


Snowstorm Slaughter

by Introverted_Cupcake_x



Category: Bully (Video Games)
Genre: Blood, Lots of it, Murder, Swearing, There will be deaths, graphic details of murder, hello naughty children its murder time, or hinted ones, pairings will come on later
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-07-25 18:11:11
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 11
Words: 24,692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16202888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Introverted_Cupcake_x/pseuds/Introverted_Cupcake_x
Summary: Nobody expected the sudden snowstorm to hit Bullworth this early in December.Nobody expected the temperatures to drop far below freezing.Nobody certainly expected students being killed by an unknown attacker in gruesome ways.Worse, Jimmy Hopkin’s name is being graffitied by some of the dead bodies and evidence started being found on Petey's person, drawing people’s suspicions against them and with the and connection to the outside world cut off thanks to the blustery blizzards, desperation grows as friends turn to enemies and the once-uneasy-peaceful unity that held the school together collapses.Desperate to clear their names before the body count gets higher and the suspect list declines, Jimmy sets out with the help of his best friend Petey to get to the bottom of the horrific murders together while watching out for the real killer and hypothermia.





	1. The Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> I just want to make this clear now: Lots of characters will die. This is not in the same universe as my Downward Spiral series, so rest ease. However, like I said, characters will die, including your favs, with some deaths being described in-depth and some being mercifully instant. These chapters are short because I appear to only write better with short bursts of energy, unlike my Downward Spiral stories where the chapter take me about a month to write up and check for mistakes.
> 
> Either way, I wrote this to exercise my writing skills. Some chapters may be re-written to correct spelling and grammatical errors, but I hope that in the spooky months of October, November and December, my inspiration will not run dry.

“Get up, you lug.”

A year ago, Jimmy would’ve shoved Petey in the trash for waking him up rudely. But because of his respect for his now-best friend, the skinhead just snorts and shoves the hand off his bare shoulder.

“Git outta my room…”

“Come on!” Petey protested, already fully dressed in his uniform, “class is in 10 minutes! You don’t have time to eat breakfast!”

“Good!” Jimmy groans as he sat up and the Head Boy almost did a facepalm upon realising that Jimmy was only wearing his tighty whities.

“It’s WINTER, Jimmy!” he whined with a high pitch, “why the hell aren’t you wearing pyjamas like normal people?!”

“Because I’m not normal!” his friend snapped and held his head with a grimace, “shit, I am NOT drinking with Johnny and Peanut again!” Petey rose an eyebrow, crossing his arms.

“What did you just say in front of the Head Boy?”

“Nothing,” Jimmy sighed and he nodded firmly.

“Good. Because I don’t want to abuse my power again.”

“Petey,” Jimmy snorts, “sneaking me free coffee from the staff lounge hardly counts as ‘evil corruption.’”

“Yes, well, I could easily lose this job!” the brunette blurts, “now get ready! Don’t forget that Dr Crabblesnitch made me responsible to stop you from causing trouble!”

“Petey, relax. Don’t forget, the teachers are all going on their weird little daytrip tomorrow, so once tomorrow comes, I can raise hell and then have you sweep the problems under the carpets.”

“But--” Petey spoke up in protest when his taller pal gave him a friendly shove on the shoulder.

“Now go, already. I’m getting changed. Unless you wanna watch? Gord says I’m good at stripp--”

“I’M GOING! Geeze!”

Jimmy laughed to himself as the Head Boy slammed the door shut and he changed into his usual school uniform. Nothing fancy apart from changing his school shoes to a pair of army boots he suspected to be originally stolen from a dead North Vietnamese soldier. Stepping out of his room after giving his used chem set a cursory glance, he joined Petey as they hurried out the dorm, and into the main building of Bullworth Academy.

* * *

 

“Glad that’s over,” Jimmy muttered as he left the chemistry classroom, “but I hate the smell of the new chemicals they ordered in.” Beatrice heard him as she walked past with a tiny giggle.

“But they’re so amazing with the functions they have!” she says gleefully, “I just can’t wait until we get to see the cyanide, but Dr Watts says we can’t even handle the vials yet.”

“Right…” her friend glanced at her before opening his locker (his, yes, not just a random student’s) to take a drink of soda.

“Oh, and did you know--” she gushed, “that cyanide smells like almonds?”

“Really now?” Jimmy says lightly before burping and tossed the can across the corridor to land in the trash, only to bounce off Sheldon’s head as he is currently stuffed inside yelling for help. “I know a few things that smell like roasted nuts.”

“Really? Tell me!”

He paused before chuckling with a wink. “You’re smart, you’ll know them anyway, Bea.”

The nerd tittered to herself before leaving to talk to Angie and Jimmy shut his locker.

‘Well. Lunchtime. Time to die.’

* * *

 

As per tradition, the King of the academy got to sit wherever he wanted, and today he chose to sit at the Nerd’s table much to the envy of the other cliques. Earnest nervously scooted closer, almost shaking with ideas to share with him about inter-school relations and how to eliminate physical sports from the curriculum, only for the King to raise his hand and he shut up straightaway.

“Or better, how about an opt-out system so that we don’t get rid of sports, but just allow people to not turn up without consequence?”

Despite the clear disapproval in Earnest’s face, he bowed with enthusiasm lacing his voice. “Great idea! I’ll put that motion forward to Dr Crabblesnitch!”

“And say it’s your idea - you deserve it.”

“I will, Jimmy!”

Although Jimmy wished that everyone hated him enough to leave him alone in peace to eat his food, he couldn’t quite deny that he enjoyed the warmth of belonging someplace where people seem to like him. It’s not like spending those quiet nights alone in his former houses where there’s a constant countdown before an explosive stepdad lose their temper over the slightest noises...

“Beat it, Petey!” That squeak snapped him out of his thoughts as he looked two tables head, seeing Juri square up, lurching over Petey as he pathetically held his lunch tray. “We don’t want you at our table!”

“Okay, I’m going! Look, I’m leaving!” he yelled, hurrying over to the Preps table only for them to boo at him and he slunk off with pure dejection in his face.

Jimmy watched him hesitantly inch toward the next table, but the greasers just glared at him while Vance drunk down a can of cola, offering him an apologetic look. Johnny’s been suspended from school for breaking Derby’s nose with a condom stuffed with pebbles - not so much because he made a dangerous weapon with the country’s strongest branded-condom but because of the insulting implication behind the physical metaphor - so he made Vance the stand-in clique leader. The second he glanced over at the nerd table, all the nerds with frightening synchronisation crossed their arms in an X-pose. The T-pose has evolved and become more dangerous.

Jimmy grunted and stood up, fed up.

“Come with me, Petey, let’s eat outside.”

The nerds shot him a look of surprise as he abandoned his lunch tray, grabbing only a soggy toastie with paper-thin cheese and rancid ham, before holding Petey’s wrist and practically dragged him out.

* * *

 

“You need to stand up for yourself more,” was what Jimmy said to him as they sat in the broken-down schoolbus. “If you don’t, you’ll never get listened to, even if you are Head Boy.”

“I know!” he snapped before apologising. “Sorry. Earnest has been a real pig lately, and keeps strutting around acting like he owned the place. Just… how?” he blurts, looking at his friend helplessly. “How can I be as outrageous as you?”

“Be me, I suppose,” Jimmy shrugs and bites the toastie, only to snarl in disgust. “Dammit, that ham is raw!”

“Won’t you need A-A&E for that?”

“No,” Jimmy scoffs, tossing the toastie out the window, “just leave it for the birds or Mr Hobo. IF he’s still around…” Petey sighs softly.

“The nerds said there was some weird paranormal activity around the same time you last spoke to him… seen anything weird?”

“Nah,” the skinhead - more like fuzzhead from letting his hair grow naturally - answered lazily, “but wherever he is, I hope he’s in a better place. Winter in Bullworth is just as bad as Canada’s weather.”

“Yeah…”

Petey glanced at Jimmy as he gazed ahead with no particular emotion in his face, something close to boredom.

“Do ya miss Gary?” he suddenly asks and the Head Boy choked on his spit.

“No!” he yelps, but hunched over, “not after the torture he’s put me through!”

“Good,” Jimmy says with a nod before standing up. “Because the more you compare yourself to him in your mind, the less confident you’ll get.” With those words in mind, he walked out the bus just as the bell rang and the brunette could only watch after him in crippling self-doubt.

* * *

 

The final bell has rung and everybody flooded out the school when the intercom switched on. Most rolled their eyes, expecting an announcement on Derby “winning” admittance into an Ivy League school next year or Pinky getting married to a son of a very wealthy oil baron in the Middle East, except it was different.

_“Students, attention please - as we approach the weekend, all faculty except for the prefects will be leaving for a Teacher Training Seminar in Liberty City thanks to the generous funding from Derby Harrington’s father. We are departing this evening, so please save all homework assignments for Monday afternoon. Thank you.”_

Jimmy already knew because of Petey being up-to-date with news, but he still rose his eyebrows, impressed. Meanwhile, students excitedly whispered around him on the things they can get away with while the teachers are away. Some mundane like covering the entirety of the car park in graffiti while some insisted on breaking windows and someone joked about holding an orgy in the girls locker room. All these crazy plans despite the prefects still being around left behind - very likely being bitter about not getting the same rewarding break away from the school as the teachers are.

“Nice,” Jimmy nods to himself, running to the dorm to pack his books away before getting dressed into casual clothing, preparing to go on a paper round run. Gotta save up to buy flowers.

* * *

 

It was already dark when Jimmy biked it back to the school on his Aquaberry Racer, legs sore after being chased by a particularly irate postman who had the audacity to punch him in the head and knock him off his bike. Grumbling angrily to himself, he pushed his bike to his garage locker when he looked over to see a very stylish coach pull up into the car park with a smooth hum of it’s beautiful engine-powered behemoth, much to the delight of the teachers who wore their colourful holiday clothes and immediately began throwing their suitcases inside the compartment. Mrs Phillips (lately married but kept her maiden name) spotted Jimmy just as he was about to walk past and called out to him, hurrying over as fast as her brand new heels could allow her.

“Jimmy, you’re off to bed already?” she asks.

“Yes, Mis-- Mrs Phillips,” Jimmy nodded, “hope you guys enjoy yourselves.”

“Oh, we will,” she coos happily, glancing over at Mr Galloway awkwardly trying to push his suitcase in the compartment much to the impatience of Dr Slawter who only wore a pair of swimming trunks and flip-flops as he crossed his arms. “The Harringtons have given us all a luxury suite each that come with complementary wines.” She titters. “I’ll be sure to bring back some photos of Liberty City to show you, Jimmy. I’ll promise to bring you a souvenir too.”

“Thanks… But don't rush back TOO soon."

His art teacher gave him a beaming smile brighter than the lit streetlights before joining her newly-wed husband’s side and they climbed up the steps of the tall coach, door sliding shut behind them.

Jimmy waved at them as the engine hissed and with a groan the vehicle stuttered into motion before it wheeled away, leaving his line of sight.

“Have fun,” he sighs and turned around, walking with his hands in his pockets back towards the boys dorm, which appeared to have turned into a full-on party house with colourful disco lights flashing and streamers hanging around and over the open windows as loud music blared which pulsated through the ground in mild thrums. Jimmy grinned and hurried over.

But sitting on the stone steps looking like someone crapped in his bed, Petey hunched over with his face in his hands. Feeling his heart skip, the King dashed over with a mild idea of what’s going on.

“Yo, Petey, you okay?”

“No!” he whined loudly and stood up so quick he could’ve headbutted him. He pushes past Jimmy angrily, gesturing at the boys dorm. “FIVE MINUTES after I’m told: ‘Keep things in order, Kowalski-boy!’ by Dr Fucking Crabblesnitch, THIS SHIT STARTS TO HAPPEN!” He screamed that at the building, but of course like everyone else in his life nobody listened. He coughed, shivering all over. “Fucking-- and now I’m getting a COLD!” he chattered, hugging himself but Jimmy held his shoulder.

“Chill, man,” he soothed, “It's December, after all. Good thing too, because we’re getting snow!”

“Well, fuck me!” he snarled and wobbled, but then Jimmy realised something with a frown.

“Hey, have you been drinking?”

“Yeah, so what?” Petey growled, “stupid jocks think they can win me over… with a DRINK… well GARY wouldn’t do this, so why not me?” Jimmy held his shoulder still, peering at his eyes.

“Just one drink?”

“Yes! Fucking listen to me!”

Hearing Petey swear is on the highest level of hilarity. He’s still rather short, and cute, so it’s hard to be mad at him for the foul language.

“Petey, your drink might’ve been spiked,” Jimmy sighed, “let’s take you to bed, and I’ll try and calm people down.” That’s a lie, of course.

But Petey weakly tried to resist his hold on his arm as he dragged him inside the dorm and to Jimmy’s room where he feels that he’ll be the safest in, gently pushing him to his bed.

“Alright, soldier, I may live like a slob, but take your shoes off or you’ll get my bed mucky, got it?”

“I don’t want to sleep!” the brunette protested as he wobbled before flopping back down onto the bed, “I have to deal with shit…”

“I’ll do it,” he said with a grin, “I’ll even lock the door too to keep you in here.”

Showing him his key, Jimmy quickly steps out the room and slams the door shut, locking it, and hearing it thud loudly as Petey complained. But his cries are muffled by the bass of the speakers strung up from the power supply shared with the intercoms.

“Sorry, can’t hear you! See ya later!” Jimmy gloats then went off to join the loud party.

Even some girls are in here, chatting with each other or eating snacks from the table that someone set up a buffet on. Mostly cheap crisps and buttered bread for some reason, but at least they’re edible - unlike Edna’s food. But as Jimmy grabbed himself a beam cola, his eyes wandered over to the couch where Zoe sat on Constantino’s lap, intently listening to him drone on about the “social decline of intelligence.” with the dull tone of voice typically used by neckbeard youtubers reviewing children’s cartoons.

With a shake of his head, Jimmy let out a depressed sigh and gulped the whole can down, only to hear screams as everybody turned their heads to see Fatty - wearing absolutely nothing apart from the Bullworth Bull mascot head - running away from some jocks carrying foam bats as they yelled something about getting points everytime they hit him. Some girls screamed and covered their eyes as the unlucky nerd barged into the table being used by Derby (with a plaster over his nose) and Johnny (with a patch over his left eye), knocking their tokens off and they shouted at him angrily. The jocks hooted as they shoved past people, yelling “hit the piggy! Hit the piggy!” or “ONE POINT FOR ME!” or if you’re Dan: “DING-DONG, BITCH!”

Jimmy, stunned, can only utter: “Well shit.”

* * *

 

Midnight closed in when the lights suddenly spluttered off and the power cut off completely, drowning the place in darkness with only moonlight dimly lighting the place. Amongst the surprise yells and shrieks, gentle lights flickered on as those who smoked got their lighters handy. Frowning, Jimmy peered out the window to see flickers of snow descending to the ground, covering the ground in a light dusting of frost already. But to his surprise, the main building has a light on at the top floor that appears to be the teacher’s lounge despite the teachers making it clear that the main building will be properly locked from now on so that nobody would get in. Earnest walked beside Jimmy, seeing the same thing with a frown.

“That’s weird. The electrics are ALL connected,” he muttered.

“How so?” Jimmy stared at him, “and put it into words that non-nerds like me will understand.”

With people murmuring in disappointment and fumbling their way past each other, the nerd leader inhaled.

“In the basement - near the Hole - the electric and gas meters are in the same place for convenience. It’s likely that the power has tripped, so all you have to do is flick the switches up again.”

“Great,” Jimmy grumbled, “even on this ‘holiday’ I’m still doing shit.” Earnest smiled at him.

“You’re the boss, after all.”

* * *

 

At least Jimmy could see his way outside with the aid of a flashlight he kept handy for blackouts. But to his nagging mind, he couldn’t help but worry about the snowfall which is gradually growing in intensity. He has to hurry.

Walking up the steps to the front doors, he slowly pushed one open and he stepped inside, flashlight revealing nothing or nobody about.

“Hello?” he called out, voice echoing and he shivered from the cold as he decided to shut the door behind him and made his way towards the teacher’s lounge, where the door was left ajar with lamplight lighting the room.

“Come out, you won’t get in trouble,” he says, pushing the door open. “The teachers are away, so we’re all--”

A metallic smell hit his nose and he froze, eyesight conflicting with his mind as scent-triggered flashbacks interfered his ability to process the sight of Sheldon stuffed in a trashcan, bag over his head and blood seeping through it.


	2. What Happened?

Feeling his stomach churn, Jimmy stumbled against the table, eyes still fixed on the gruesome sight before him: A random trashcan in the middle of the staff lounge with Sheldon stuffed inside it as you would with tissue paper for protective packaging and a jute bag tied over his head with blood seeping through it.

“Sheldon?” his voice uttered hollowly and he hesitantly stepped over, only to hear a squishing noise and he looked down, not realising how much blood appeared to have been spilt over the pristine rug. But just a foot away from the mess, a message scrawled in spray paint on the wooden floor reads out:

_ ‘jimmy wuz here!’ _

His heart did a triple-flip. He backed up only to bump into Earnest, Algie and Cornelius and they made noises of surprise before Algie spotted the dead body in the trashcan and he screamed so loud that the whole of Bullworth could hear him.

“I-I found him like this!” Jimmy blurted, growing cold, but Earnest and Cornelius stared at him while Algie passed out, peeing himself.

“What? But…” the clique leader’s eyes turned to Sheldon again before looking at him. “But… is that… Sheldon… dead?”

“I-It could be a prank!” his friend squeaked and boldly walked over, ignoring the bloody mess on the rug as he hesitantly poked at the covered head and lolled to the side with more blood seeping through the material. He reeled back in horror. “N-n-n-no, it’s real! Oh, my god, s-s-s-s-s-s-s-s--”

“Cornelius!” Jimmy spoke up quickly, shaking, “you gotta calm down, if we start a panic, we’ll get confused--”

But pure panic overtook Cornelius as he shoved past Jimmy shrieking hysterically and his long arms waved about as he charged into the dark corridor without Earnest’s lantern.

**_“SHELDON’S BEEN MURDERED! THERE’S BEEN A MURDER IN THE TEACHER’S LOUNGE!!!”_ **

“Hopkins!” Earnest muttered darkly, looking at him as he flinched, “you’ve been gone approximately 10 minutes. It shouldn’t take that long to get to this room for a simple check-up.”

“What are you saying!?” the ginger snapped at him and he backed up in horror.

“W-well--” Earnest gulps, “y-y-you’ve always expressed dissatisfaction at being tattled on by the younger students! So that’s motive to kill him!” Explosive anger overtook Jimmy.

“I didn’t kill him!” Jimmy ranted, “look at my hands, they’re--”

But in the light of Earnest’s lamp, they could clearly see blood smeared on Jimmy’s hand as well as something fibrous.

“Wait,” he stumbled, pointing at the table, “I leaned against it without thinking and… oh god…”

It was only then that Jimmy realised that there are odd glistening viscera spread across the top of the table as well as cracks in the wood and the corner. The table was practically drenched in the blood. Earnest’s hand shot to his mouth, eyes growing huge.

“A-are those brains!?”

Algie, who just regained consciousness, fainted again upon hearing that.

Still stunned, Jimmy was about to walk out the room when he noticed someone standing in the darkness ahead of him in the corridor. Their shoes could only be seen thanks to the lamplight, but the rest of their profile was obscured by darkness.

Without thinking, Jimmy charged, full of adrenaline, and the figure ahead began to run.

Heart hammering, Jimmy practically flew through the air as the pursuit carried on out of the ground floor west wing and towards the main hall where the front doors have been left open.

“STOP RIGHT THERE!!” he roared, inching closer and closer to the slower figure, only to hear the painfully familiar sound of rattling and before he knew it he was moving TOO fast and collapsed to the floor and hit his head against the wall.

Vision blurring, he tried to get to his feet, but the marbles that the bastard threw to the ground made him fall over again, just in time for almost a horde of students to pour in through the entrance to look down in confusion at Jimmy.

“THE MURDERER RAN OUT THAT WAY!” he yelled, “GO AFTER THEM!”

But the boys glanced at each other.

“GO NOW!” the king screamed, but Damon spoke up hesitantly.

“Dude, we didn’t see anyone.”

“What?” Jimmy snapped and finally FINALLY stood up properly, “but I saw them go out that door before they threw the goddamn marbles down and made me slip!”

“Come on, we didn’t see anyone,” Lance piped up nervously, “Cornelius was screaming about a murder but it could be a prank--”

But Jimmy couldn’t stop. He barged past them all and into the snow, looking around frantically and at the ground for footprints, but because of the group pouring into the build the perpetrator’s footprints would’ve been covered up too…

“DAMMIT!” he yelled into the night as more snow fell…

* * *

 

Jimmy was forced to sit in the middle of the cafeteria. While students wandered around, muttering amongst themselves in a mix of horror and surprise, the king seethed and tried to break free from the cable ties tying his ankles and wrists to the chair. From what he could hear, nobody flipped the electrics back on or they were too shocked by the death of a fellow student to really consider doing that.

Finally, while almost every boy filed into the cafeteria, all eyes on Jimmy, Earnest strolled towards him with a solemn look.

“James Hopkins. I called for a clique leader meeting in the auditorium and we made some decisions.”

“I SWEAR I didn’t kill Sheldon!” the ginger yelled, chair rattling and some students backed up with gasps. “He was dead when I found him!”

“But you were gone for 10 minutes!” the nerd pointed at him, “that would be more than enough time to seize the poor lad, bash his head against the table so hard that his brains spilt everywhere, and then you shoved him into the trashcan!” Groans and gags are heard from the captivated audience.

“And WHY would I kill him?!” the prisoner snarls.

“BECAUSE--” Earnest briefly hesitated before finishing with a flourishing wave of his hand over his forehead, voice rising dramatically. “You can no longer stand being told on for petty crimes! So to avenge your pride, you murdered Sheldon--!”

“THAT’S ENOUGH!”

All eyes turned as Johnny Vincent stormed towards him, stopping short of a meter, with a steely glare. “We agreed to keep an eye on Jimmy, not lock him up!” Earnest sniffled, crossing his arms.

“Well, we have a murderer wandering the school grounds! Not to mention that Jimmy’s trademark graffiti was discovered at the scene of the crime!”

“Could be faked, you brainless idiot!” the greaser snapped and the nerd gasped sharply.

“B-b-brainless…?”

“YES!” Johnny roared and he backed up with a whimper, “and besides, I don’t believe that Jimmy killed anyone, even if he is a jerk sometimes.”

Before someone could protest, Johnny pulled a pocketknife from his pocket and cut the bonds keeping Jimmy tied down. Mutters escalated as the prisoner stood up, rubbing his wrists painfully and giving Johnny a look of gratitude.

“Thanks, man,” he says hoarsely, own voice weak from so much yelling before he glared at Earnest. “And as for you, Earnest, I think we can both agree that it would be inadvisable to get on my bad side - politically, of course.”

“Y-y-yes sir…” he gulped and looked up just as Ted and Derby approached them.

“WHY is he not in his chair?” Derby sniffed and Johnny’s eyes burned into his skull, but Jimmy touched his arm reassuringly.

“Because until we get everybody strapped down in one place, nobody is getting accused of murder, got it?”

“So what is the plan?” Ted muttered, looking sick, “because the girls are still in their dorm…”

“Good,” Jimmy said firmly, “Ted, go tell Mandy to tell ALL the girls and first-years to remain in the girls dorm. Nobody gets in or out. Johnny,” he adds, turning to the greaser, “grab your boys to herd up all the boys to this cafeteria. If we divide the groups, we’ll be safer in large numbers.” With nods of agreement, Ted and Johnny left together.

“And what about me?” Derby rose an eyebrow, arms crossed, “because I’d very much rather be in Harrington House with my men than be in HERE.”

“Good idea,” Jimmy says lightly, “go grab all your preppy buddies and hole up while the food supplies are here.”

“We’ll just order takeout!” the prep leader blurted, flustered, but then at the moment Johnny and Ted hastily returned to the cafeteria, both with indescribable shock in their expressions.

“Guys… the snowstorm is picking up fast!” Johnny shouted out loud enough for every student to hear, “we have to get back to the dorms immediately!”

Panic rose with everyone getting up from the floor and chairs quickly, but Jimmy jumped onto the table to yell: “Wait! We have to stick to the plan!”

But nobody listened to him. In fear, he glanced around, hoping to spot the familiar pink shirt, but he remembered that he locked Petey in his dorm room. “FINE! Everybody, to the dorms - now!”

“Hold onto each other as you go! The blizzard is blinding!” Johnny added as each student held the back of each other’s shirts, forming a line as they walked into the main hall.

With a deep sense of urgency, Jimmy ran past them all to yank the doors open, only to be pelted with an intense whip of snow that almost knocked in off his feet. Outside, you could barely see 5 feet in front of you. At his feet, drifts already formed that went up to his shins.

“Fuck!” he shivered and looked back at Earnest, Ted, Derby and Johnny. “We get everyone to the boys' dorm first and then we’ll send out a rescue party to find anyone who’s still in the library and Harrington House!”

Unflinchingly, Johnny nodded in complete agreement while Derby rolled his eyes and pushed past him, setting foot outside. Ted and Earnest glanced at each other and held onto Jimmy’s shirt while Johnny took Earnest’s sweater into his hold, then he felt someone hesitantly hold his jacket.

It continued until a human chain was formed, and Jimmy began to walk through the snapping cold, relying on muscle memory, not going too fast that the chain might break.

_ ‘Think… I never counted the steps, but I can FEEL when I’m close to a wall or building!’ _ he thought to himself.

Snow clung to his skin and clothes, already forming a layer on his body as the cold lanced through his body and he inhaled sharply but still trudged on as he held his hand out.

His hand touched brick. In hope, he looked up, but it’s just a pillar. Hesitantly, he walked to the right, and he touched more brick, trying to shine his flashlight ahead of him only for the light to reflect off more snow.

“There! The dorm!” he heard Ted shout. “straight ahead! There’s a lighter ahead!”

“STOP!”

Jimmy paused but refusing to turn around in this vortex of whiteness.

“WHAT?!” he yelled.

“The chain’s broken!” he heard someone - Lefty - cry out, “Vance was holding onto me, but he let go! We hafta go find him!”

“We have to keep going!” Earnest insisted, “it’s either half or all of us!”

Gritting his teeth, Jimmy coughed before shouting: “WE KEEP GOING! We’ll find them as soon as we get you guys in!”

“No way! I’m not leaving Vance or anyone else behind!” Lefty yelled from a few meters away. “I’m breaking away to find them!”

“Lefty - NO!” Johnny roared, growing pale, but then they couldn’t hear Lefty anymore.

More snow bloomed as the wind’s whistling intensified and Jimmy’s heart left his chest as he felt Earnest abruptly let go of him.

“JOHNNY, NO!” the ginger screamed after him and lunged, only to grab the hand of whoever held Johnny’s jacket - Wade.

“He’s just ran off!” the bully stumbled.

“Jimmy!” Earnest seized his sleeve, “we have to keep going to the dorm! Someone has their lighter on!”

Letting out a dismayed yell, Jimmy power-walked it towards the weak light of someone who is standing on the steps to the boys’ dorm: Petey. The ginger’s eyes widened upon seeing him only to flinch when the brunette ran up to him and punched him in the face. While it didn’t knock Jimmy off his feet or even move him, he still shot him a stunned look.

“YOU IDIOT!” he screamed, “YOU LOCKED ME IN YOUR ROOM, AND NOW I’M HEARING THAT SOMEBODY’S BEEN MURDERED! EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO ME NOW, HOPKINS!”

* * *

 

With the remains of the human chain entering the boys’ dorm, Ted and Damon slammed the front doors shut, keeping the blizzard outside as other boys went to cover up any holes in the windows with powerful duct tape.

Still in a state of shock, Petey grabbed Jimmy’s hand, yanking him along and through the bedroom door (with the handle ripped off) before kicking it shut and turning to face him, face red in fury.

“Tell me everything. Now.”

So Jimmy did. He told Petey of how when the power went off, he noticed the light in the staff lounge, went to investigate, saw Sheldon’s folded body and his pursuit of the murderer.

“YOU WENT AFTER THE KILLER?” Petey shrieked.

“Yes!” Jimmy snapped, “and some people still believe that I’m the one responsible!”

“Of course they would!” his friend yelled, “with blood on your hands, of course they’re going to accuse you!”

“So what?!” Jimmy burst angrily, rounding up on him, “you think I killed Sheldon, huh?!”

“No!” Petey shoved at his chest, “dammit, Jimmy, you’re violent, scary, immoral, but you’re not a killer!”

“And I might as well have killed everyone for not going to the basement to fix the lighting back on!”

“Oh, fine then! I’ll go trip the switches back on then!”

It took Jimmy a solid second to realise that Petey was serious as he left his room, putting on his thick coat and hood as he headed towards the front doors and he seized his shoulder to spin him around.

“I swear, do NOT go out there!” Jimmy commanded him, but the smaller male glared at him.

“I got firecrackers, a torch, some crackers in my pocket - if you hear a firecracker go off, then its my call for help. Understand? Good! Bye!” And he opened the door, letting in a blustery screeching wind inside as he forced his way against the cold and the door slammed shut again, leaving Jimmy alone, stunned and feeling lonely despite being surrounded by dorm-mates who have listened to their argument.


	3. Searching

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter in Petey's POV.

I wish I hadn’t stormed off like that, but Jimmy’s bleating was annoying me so much. He doesn’t have to treat me like a delicate flower just because I’m still a dwarf compared to him.

But as I power myself through the snowstorm currently hitting Bullworth, I regret leaving without him. He’s stronger than I am (enviably so) and would probably be great for sharing body heat with should we get buried under a drift by accident.

As I trudge through the deep snow, looking around with my torch barely lighting the way, my regret ran deeper as I almost walk into the trashcan that I recognised as the one that sits only mere feet away from the boys’ dorm building. This is hopeless. I went to turn back, but then I bumped into the locked front gates instead, iron rattling ominously in the powerful winds.

What? How?

Silently, I held the gate, peering through the darkness. The streetlights have stopped working too.

Then I stupidly began to think of horror movies, and in extreme panic I burst into a run through the snow straight ahead without thinking, only to trip up the steps that I presumed lead up to the front doors of the main building. Picking up the torch I dropped, I hurled myself against the door and it opened.

My torch shone upon a group of people and I almost yelled but then I recognised Vance staring at me with wide eyes.

“Petey!” he blurted and ran to me, holding my arms. “How’d you get here on your own?!”

“B-b-b-b--” I couldn’t talk. The reality that I just wandered the campus on my own in a snowstorm without protection while a killer is on the loose hit me, and I couldn’t help but cry. Arms wrapped around me, and I’m hit with the smell of oil and mint.

“Chill, man, you’re safe with us now,” Vance uttered, “because some NIMROD broke the human chain so we had no choice but to run back here in case.”

“You broke the chain!” a guy spoke up - Lefty - face completely red. “I thought I’d lost ya!”

“I told you, I didn’t break it! Someone slapped my hand off you and shoved me into the snow!” Vance hotly argued.

“Who?” I muttered against his jacket and he let go with a sigh.

“No clue, but if it’s the murderer Jimmy talked about, then I’m lucky, eh?”

“No, I’M Lucky!” Lucky joked and Lefty gave him a high-five, making our small group of survivors chuckle. I suddenly felt a whole lot better.

“So who’s here?” I asked, “because before the storm hit, most of us were at that party, right?”

“Uh…” Lefty glanced around, and I looked to see him, Lucky, Vance, Lance and Pedro, who was huddled up on the floor trembling. Dumb kid’s still wearing a pair of shorts at this time of year. “Just us. Others went to check out the other floors.”

“Who else?” I gulped. “Because that’s a bad idea with a killer going around…”

“Nah,” Lucky waved his hand dismissively, “there’s 3 of ‘em together. They can overpower one crazy killer together. Troy, Trent and Angie. But man…” he sighed and ran his hand through his auburn hair. “Good thing some of us are already home where it’s warmer than being here.”

“Well, in any case, we HAVE to get to the boys’ dorm,” I said, “let’s get those guys back too altogether. The more of us there is, the better.”

Then a loud piercing scream filled the halls of this building and we all jumped in shock, quickly looking at each other.

“That sounds like Angie!” Lance blurted, “let’s run!” Vance cuffed him upside the head angrily.

“Run TO her, you moron! Let’s go!” he yelled and without warning ran up the stairs, followed by Lefty and Lucky.

“Wait up!” I shouted and also charged, but yelling back as I did so to Lance and Pedro. “You two stay here and wait for us!”

We turned right, up towards the upstairs east wing where the greasers stopped suddenly, and we all looked ahead to see a figure wearing a thick black jacket and a ski mask.

“Fuck!” Vance whispered, backing up. But I pushed past him, clenching my fists as I stared at the advancing figure only for them to stop when I stepped up.

“Stay where you are!” I shouted, “and drop that weapon down or we WILL kick your ass!”

A sob was heard somewhere and the figure turned their head, but then someone ran past me yelling.

“Lucky, no!” Vance ranted, but before the greaser wielding a fire extinguisher could react, the intruder jerked forward.

As if punched, Lucky gasped and backed up, dropping the fire extinguisher with a clattering noise as he went before falling to his backside clutching his stomach.

Vance and Lefty yelled, immediately kneeling beside him and the figure stood just a meter away from me, seemingly staring at me until they chuckled and bounded away around the corner, dropping the kitchen knife with a clatter.

I foolishly follow, only to turn the corner to stop because how can someone disappear into midair in half a millisecond?

“Lucky! Hang in there!” Vance ordered and I hurried back to the greasers, kneeling down to see red staining his blue vest as he panted, squeezing his eyes shut and fists clenched.

“Fuck!” he gasped, leaning back against Lefty, “don’t… don’t go near that jerk!”

“We won’t, pal! Just hang on, we’ll get ya somewhere safe!” Lefty pleaded before looking at me. “The infirmary! We have ta take him there!”

I finally snapped out of the fog in my mind and stood up straight, only to hear a cry again and I froze.

“You two!” I snapped and they jerked their glances at me, “take Lucky, Pedro and Lance to the infirmary room and I’ll come back with Angie, Trent and Troy! Don’t hesitate, and apply pressure to his wound!”

I spun on my heel and headed off, ignoring their cries and I strained my hearing to listen for the sobbing again.

Being alone is not advisable. I can feel it deep down in my bones screaming at me to at least bring someone with me, but Lucky needs his friends with him… And my only friend is at the dorm with a dangerous snowstorm separating the buildings with the sheer force of nature alone.

Lucky’s bleeding stuck to my mind like blood to clothing as my ears tried SO hard, but I can’t just call out names now. The killer might come back...

“Angie?” I whisper instead, and then a rattling noise made me shiver all over, as I slowly turn to the row of lockers, and--

A door opened to one of them, and a girl fell out with a whimper to her knees, looking up at me with saucer-wide eyes and broken glasses.

“Angie!” I hushed lowly, dropping to her height, “it’s me, Petey! I’m going to take you to the boys’ dorm where everyone else is!”

“T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T--” her teeth chattered. She’s not even wearing a coat. I forgot how rubbish the central heating is in here.

Carefully, I reach over to take her freezing hands into mine, and she only tensed up more, eyes unblinking.

“Where did Trent and Troy go?” I whisper gently and she gulped before fat tears rolled down her cheeks.

“T-T-T-T-T-T-T…”

It’s no use.

“I’m going to walk you to the infirmary right now,” I soothed, “it’s where there’s a group of us. Then I’ll find Trent and Troy.”

But as I took a couple of steps away while holding her hand, she remains frozen to the spot. Her hold on me only tightened to the point it began to hurt.

“Uh, Angie?” I start, “you gotta walk. If you don’t…” I don’t wanna be a jerk and say  _ ‘the killer will come back.’ _ but… desperate times and desperate measures.

“T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-T…” she shook again, trying so hard to talk.

“Angie,” I said a bit more loudly, “you HAVE to move. The killer will come back here and find you.”

Her mouth stopped moving, but it then she suddenly fell forward and I caught her, only to spot 5 knives sticking out of her back

“Angie!” I gasped and quickly knelt down to carefully roll her to her side, holding her face as she tried to speak.

“T-T-T-Trent…” she finally hisses, “T-T-T-T-Troy… Ran…” And then her eyes closed, head a dead weight on my hand and I hopelessly laid her down, just staring down at her body before turning to look at the locker where the puddle of blood had pooled, leading to her bloody footprints that I could not have noticed without a flashlight until now. But inside the locker, the words ‘JIMMY WUZ HERE’ are spray-painted on the back.

Stunned, I knelt down, foolishly touching her neck to feel a pulse, but of course there’s none, just the lingering warmth of life before the chilly air cooled it forever.

My own pulse racing, I stood up and before stepping around her body and ran on, intending to find Trent and Troy, wherever the fuck they are, and make them PAY for leaving Angie behind.

* * *

 

I couldn’t find them. I even punched the trophy cabinet and yanked out a Football Trophy the size of Damon’s ego as a weapon and yelled as loud as I could:

“TRENT! TROY! WHERE DID YOU COWARDS GO?! ANGIE’S DEAD!”

I went downstairs, searching the lower east wing when I heard muffling inside another locker.

I inhaled, and quickly yanked the door open as I stepped back with the trophy held high, and my eyes fell upon Trent who is curled up in a ball, pale and eyes wide. My eyes wandered to his feet, but no blood.

“Trent!” I snapped and he flinched, looking like a frightened child, “where’s Troy?!”

His teeth clenched and he hugged his knees, shaking his head.

I seized his arm and pulled him out and he let out a whimper, shoving my hand away.

“No, stay away…!” he cried, “leave me alone! Please! I’m begging you!” His voice cracked and he began to full-on sob.

“Pull yourself together!” I hissed and dropped to his eye level, “we have to go to the infirmary where it’s safe! The other guys are there right now, but we’ll need help taking Lucky to the boys’ dorm, he’s been stabbed!”

“Christ,” he blubbed and wiped his eyes, “j-just leave me to h-h-hide, I’m safer in there!”

“Now you’re not!” I growled and snatched his wrist, “because you have to come with me and there’s safety in numbers!”

“Yeah, right!” he sniffled and I stood up, dragging him up. “Either stay here and freeze to death or get killed, or come with me and help us stop the bastard before he kills anyone else!”

In spite of his protests, and despite being weaker, I began to pull him along. We went past the front doors when we heard knocking and we froze, staring at the wood.

The knocking continued, calmly, and Trent shook his head.

“Don’t answer it!” he hissed, fearful again. “It could be a trap!”

To reassure him, I nodded and we hurry on until we made it to the infirmary door, which I knocked with my knuckles.

“It’s me: Petey,” I rose my voice, and a second later the door opened with Lance staring at me, panting.

“Did you…?” he muttered and his eyes met Trent’s before backing up with a gulp. “Just Trent, huh?”

Trent said nothing, barging past with his eyes squeezed shut. I follow, and the door clicked shut before Lance pushed a cabinet in front of it, and my heart dropped upon seeing one of the beds being occupied with a sheet completely covering Lucky. Vance was hunched over, face in his hands while Lefty said nothing, only patting his back as they sat together. In the corner by the main desk, Pedro toyed with a fountain pen listlessly, face red from upset.

“He’s gone,” Vance broke the silence, voice hoarse as his hands drop to his knees, “just as he was tellin’ me how he wanted us all to go on a trip together to Hollywood next spring break.” Lefty’s hand moved up to hold his neck, pulling him over to rest against his shoulder.

Trent did nothing, only sitting down on the nearest bed and letting out a heavy sigh, snatching up a tissue from the box on the bedside cabinet to wipe his eyes.

“What now?” Lance spoke and I turned to him, looking downcast. “You go find Angie and Troy?”

The other boys looked up as he said that - all looking at me - and I inhaled to calm my racing heart.

“Angie’s dead,” I say slowly and their faces twisted with different emotions, “she was shoved into a locker, but had 5 knives in her back. Whoever did it put them in her in a way that didn’t mean instant death.”

“Why?” Lefty blurted, “why not just get it over and done with!?”

“To make her suffer, of course…” Pedro muttered, not looking at me, still clicking one of the pens, “I… I want my mama…” Trent flew to his feet to glare at him.

“Of course you do, you big baby!” Trent snarled and his eyes watered, but I stood in his line of vision.

“Not helping!” I hissed before looking around, “guys, we have to stay focused. I want all of you to head to the boys’ dorm, and debrief Jimmy about what’s going on. Tell him I’m safe.”

“That’s the weird thing,” Vance murmured, eyes focusing on me, “you… you stood close to the killer. They could’ve easily caught ya, but they just ran off. Why?”

“Yeah…” Lefty frowns, standing up, “why is it that you’re still alive?” Even Pedro and Lance watched me apprehensively.

“I don’t know!” I blurted, “don’t get any weird ideas, guys, because seriously, am I someone who can easily kill a guy?”

“No,” Trent snorted, “but anyone who knows anybody will know that you always followed that weirdo Gary Smith like a puppy. Maybe you learnt a thing or two from him.” My blood spiked and I shoved him in the chest and he fell onto the bed.

“I am NOT Gary Smith,” I hissed, “and if ANYONE--” I turned to glance at each person, “--thinks otherwise, don’t expect me to help you out.”

“Harsh,” Lefty muttered, but nodded. “This isn’t helping. Petey, what’s the plan of action?”

“We’ll have to go back to the dorm,” I murmured, glancing at the bed with Lucky resting upon, “Vance, Lefty… we have to leave him behind. I’m sorry. But as soon as the snowstorm clears and the power is back on, we’ll get him cleaned up properly, okay?”

“Alright,” Vance sighs, but not without taking something out of his pocket first. A lighter. Solemnly, he places it onto the fabric over Lucky’s chest where I notice they crossed his hands over.

I then turn to Pedro just as he got off the revolving chair, holding one of the pens in his fist. “Come on, little guy, we’ll get you back to the dorm safe and sound…”

He nodded, eyes blank, and I hesitantly held his small hand as Lance pushes the cabinet away from the infirmary door, and opened it. I went out first, seeing nobody in the corridor, and walked out as the other guys hesitantly followed me.

None of us said anything, but as soon as I opened the door, Trent seized my shoulder and I jumped. His eyes look dark, grip on my shoulder not relenting. My heart jumped.

“Troy’s dead,” he muttered, “all because of me.”

“We’ll talk about it later,” I hissed, thinking of the little boy holding my hand.

“No…” Trent shook his head, sounding distant, “I… I have to say it.”

“What’s the hold up?” Vance spoke up with a frown, “c’mon, Trent, tell us when we get back.”

“I mean it!” his voice rose angrily and Pedro whimpered, eyes brimming with tears again, “me and Troy went to look for Angie because something spooked her and she ran off, and when we went to check the girls toilets upstairs, someone threw a toilet lid at his head and he slipped and broke his fucking neck!”

“That’s enough!” Lefty snarled and shoved his hand off my shoulder, “you’re upsetting the kid, man!”

“Oh, like YOU ever gave a shit for someone not wearing a shitty oil jacket!” Trent barked. I stood between them.

“Shut up!” I demanded, but they still glared at each other. “I swear, wait until we get to the dorm!” I say, as a grim realisation that Trent witnessed someone getting killed sunk into my conscience. But then Trent stepped outside ahead of us into the blizzard angrily.

“I’m going ahead!” he yelled.

“Trent, you idiot, don’t!” I ranted, but the storm cloaked him, vanishing him from our view instantly.

“Fucking hell!” Lance burst and I shot him a glare just as Pedro held my hand tighter.

“Pedro,” I say and knelt down, my back facing him, “come on, I’ll give you a piggyback ride, how’s that sound?”

He immediately clung to me, arms tight around my neck and I almost choked.

“H-hold on…” I gasp and looked at the remaining three boys, “okay, guys, you know the drill, hold onto each other, and do NOT let go!” Lefty glanced at Vance and they held hands as Vance held the hem of my shirt. Lance reached up to hold Pedro’s hand, temporarily relieving the pressure on my throat.

“Let’s go,” I murmured, and we began to walk through the freezing storm, going slow to avoid falling down the steps, across what I presume is the front entrance courtyard, before turning right.

Snow and ice already formed on my clothes. If it wasn’t for the young boy clinging to my back, I’d probably freeze to death by now, but then I lit up with hope as I look ahead to see a flashlight bobbing around and Jimmy ran up to me before throwing his arms around me, almost knocking me over.

“Petey!” he gasped and looked at us, “what the FUCK happened? Why’d ya take so long?”

“Is Trent with you?” Lance spoke up and he shook his head.

“Why? Where’s Trent?” he frowned, looking past us, but I pushed past, hurrying into the lobby of the boys’ down and everyone let out a cheer upon seeing me collapse to the ground, applauding and hooting in celebration. I shivered violently, hurriedly brushing the snow off my clothes and hair.

Pedro got off me quickly, running off, and Luis and Dan helped me to my feet while clapping my back and the fear of them beating me up disappeared when I saw their genuine smiles. Jimmy ran to my side, holding my shoulders and staring into my eyes.

“What happened?” he asked and my throat seized up. I can’t stop thinking of the killer.

“Jimmy,” Vance spoke grimly, approaching him with Lefty. “We… we lost three people.”

The boys’ nearest to us stopped, looking at them as everyone gradually fell silent. Vance wiped his eyes, so his friend spoke up.

“We saw Lucky get stabbed… while trying to attack the killer,” he began and startled murmurs sounded. “And… Trent said he saw Troy get bludgeoned with a toilet seat in the girls’ toilets. Dunno which floor though. And then…” His gaze moved to me, and so did everyone elses’.

“Angie…” I muttered and Jimmy’s mouth dropped, “she was stuffed in a locker… with five knives in her back.” My eyes burned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t even notice. I took her out, but I thought she was just scared to leave, but then she collapsed and I saw the knives and I--” I gulped but Jimmy held my arms with a dark look.

“It’s not your fault, Petey,” he murmured, “it’s the fault of the bastard who killed Sheldon. And Troy. And Angie. And we’ll take that bastard down no matter what.”

“But how?” Lance said with a frown, “the prefects have locked up the gates so we can’t even get to the police station.”

“Where the FUCK are the prefects?!” Dan ranted, making me jump, “they’re supposed to just maintain order or crap! I’ve seen them do nothing tonight!” For once, I agree with him despite him being a jock.

“Petey?” Jimmy said gently.

“They… they usually sleep in the boiler room,” I explained and groans sounded.

“Typical!” Jimmy shook his head, “and it happens to be in the warmest place on campus too as long as they have the firewood, and plenty of access to the electrics and gas as well.”

“So if we turn the power back on…” I began and he nodded.

“We can call for help. I dunno how long it’ll take for the cops to show, but we gotta be prepared to get beaten up before being asked questions.”

I held his arm tightly with a nod.

“I’m ready.”


	4. Power Switch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter in Jimmy's POV.

With a thick coat on, Petey and I made our way out of the boys’ dorm. I can tell he really wanted to stay, but he’ll have a pretty extensive knowledge of electrics and shit since he regularly goes to the basement, so I’m glad he came with me. I get that it’ll be safer being around everyone else under one roof, but we have to get the criminal captured before someone else dies. We already lost four people…

“J-Jimmy!” Petey’s teeth rattled and I reached out to grab his sleeve so that we don’t separate. “W-we have t-t-to hurry!”

But Petey surprised me so far. Not only did he witness someone getting stabbed, but he also held Angie as she died. Then from what I heard, he rallied the survivors and managed to get them all back to the dorm - apart from Trent, that drama queen. I hope I find him before he does something stupid… But Petey really grew a pair ever since I first met him last year.

We pushed the front doors open, stumbling inside as he quickly shut them again. The halls are as silent as death as I look around, readying to fight if I need to. I don’t know what a slingshot can do against a murderer, but I’m willing to take that risk, even if I do want to personally kill the fucker myself.

“Let’s hurry,” Petey muttered and I follow him into the east wing, past the school shop and he opened the basement door with a heavy creaking noise from years of a lack of oiled hinges.

“Where are they exactly?” I asked as we step inside the room, glancing at the boxes of Christmas decorations readying to be used next week.

“The electric and gas meters are by the Hole,” Petey explains and my mind immediately went to the memory of me reigning victorious against Russell last year. “But the prefects are camping out by the boilers, which is in that direction…” He pointed down the corridor on our left side, very spooky and dark without the lights on.

“We are NOT separating,” I say firmly, “we’ll put the power back on first, and THEN we’ll alert the prefects. If the killer’s managed to access this building and the teacher’s lounge even though we’re told that they were locked, then it’s likely that they’ll have gone down here too and waiting for someone to come alone.”

Petey nods with a wan smile. “Learning from the horror movies, huh?”

I couldn’t help but grin at that as we began to make our way down towards the Hole, down the steps while guided by the broken flashlight Petey carried. He didn’t say how it got cracked, but as long as it works it’s fine.

He sniffed the air, freezing. “Jimmy…”

I stop as well, smelling something familiar. “I smell it too…”

We shared a look and he quietly pulls a firecracker from his pocket and I got my slingshot ready with a marble as ammunition.

“It… smells like roadkill, right?” he whispers as we walk very slowly, almost excruciatingly so, down the long corridor that felt 10 times longer than usual. “Rotting… like in Dr Slawter’s Bio class.”

“Agreed…” I muttered, rubber tense in my grip. I can’t explain it, but it smells like something’s been rotting for days. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he actually found a dead deer and decided we should use it instead of putting it in Edna’s freezer.”

“Oh, it’s already full of pigeons,” Petey says nonchalantly and I looked at him before glancing ahead, and the flashlight’s beam danced through the chain fencing throwing shadows everywhere. The smell grew stronger and we remained tense, edging closer and closer until--

Petey drew in a sharp gasp and backed up while I stay where I was, staring down at the middle of the Hole where Russell lay in the brown sewage, face beaten beyond recognition.

“O-oh, GOD why?” my friend choked, leaning against me and still shakily keeping the light on him as if in denial. “I-it can’t be! Russell… h-h-he’s the strongest in the school!”

My only senses dulled while I stared at the body, flies already flitting around and buzzing. Beside the body, a baseball bat lay snapped completely in two but with the splinters drenched in viscera like…

Silently, I climb down the ladder (much to Petey’s shock) and I walk over, reluctantly peering at the body. Russell still wore his school clothes, but they’ve been stained before the blood rusted, mostly at his abdominal area. I look at the halves of the baseball bat and realised something as I turn to Petey.

“I think he’s been beaten in the face and head so hard that the bat snapped, and then whoever attacked him stabbed him in the stomach with the halves because…” I point at the splintered ends, “there’s blood on the broken ends. Not only is it excessive, but the blood loss would mean that he bled out fast if he got struck hard enough while he was stunned.”

“Fuck!” Petey gasped, stumbling to turn and look around frantically, “Jimmy - the power! We have to turn it on NOW. It’s just over here!” And without waiting for me to say a word, he ran around the fencing until he reached behind the betting table to a wall of complicated-looking switches.

As he muttered and fiddled with the switches and buttons, I took a moment to look at Russell’s face, feeling my hands tense. How could this happen to the strongest fighter? Yeah, I beat him, but when it comes to records Russell is the one who won the most fighting matches in the entire school.

I can’t even remember the last time I spoke to him either. Or remember what his face exactly looks like.

“Dammit!” Petey swore and I look up to see him kick the metal before resting his forehead against the console, “so it’s not just the school... there’s a huge powercut for Bullworth…”

“Fuck,” I breathe, giving Russell one last glance before climbing up the ladder, “so… now what?”

“Wake up the prefects, I suppose,” Petey mutters, walking past me with slouching shoulders. Hesitantly, I patted his shoulder and he flinched, turning to me with wide eyes but sighed heavily. “Sorry. I kinda saw someone get killed and die in my arms.”

“Sorry, man,” I say lowly as we make the long trek back up the stairs, “this isn’t the night anyone would expect.”

“Schools aren’t safe anyway, but at least nobody got killed…”

We fell into silence as we carry on, hearing only our footsteps, the sound of dripping from rusty pipes as well as water running freely somewhere.

“What a time for a leak,” Petey groans, “that noise always makes me run to the bathroom.”

“Agree,” I nod and then we suddenly step into puddles as paused, light flashing at the huge puddle of water that might as well be a fucking pond.

“What the hell?” my partner mutters with a frown, “this is the boiler room for sure, so why isn’t the fire one if the prefects are in here, hogging all the warmth an--AAAA!!”

His flashlight jerk and I quickly seize it off him to point, and stare, at a huge glass tank resting in front of the unlit boiler with 4 bodies trapped inside, all bloated with clothes almost ripping at the seams. Water seeped from under the heavy lid on the tank as a water hose hanging from the water tap is left duct-taped to the hole in the side of the tank.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Petey whimpered, hand covering his mouth, shaking all over. “The prefects! Break the glass!”

But judging from the bulging eyes and spidering blood vessels, fat fingers and how they simply floated, staring at nothing… I didn’t move. I couldn’t move.

“Jimmy!” Petey yelled and shook my arm, but even he knew that it’s too late to save them.

Wading over the spilling water, walking to the water tap beside the fire extinguisher, I turned it until the water stopped running over the spray-painted tag with ‘JIMMY WUZ HERE’ in bright red on it.

“Jimmy…?” Petey spoke up, voice echoing in the silent space.

“What?” I grumbled, looking at him and seeing him so lost it almost enraged me. He flinched at me and averted his eyes to look at the bloating corpses, eyes also falling onto the spray-painted tag.

“I…” he inhaled, closing his eyes as he lowers the torchlight to the foot of the tank, “I last spoke to them as a group when the teachers locked up the school. Only they have the spare keys on them.”

“Wait…” I stepped over to him, hating how cold the water feels against the soles of my boots, “so there’s more than one copy of the key for each room in this place?”

“It’s a master key,” he says simply, peering through the glass, trying to look for something, “the one that opens all the keys in the school. Miss Danvers, Mr Luntz and Dr Crabblesnitch have one each, the prefects have one each as well, so there’s seven copies altogether. But… ah…”

My eyes followed his into the water, and the belts are missing from all the prefects.

“So… conclusion?” I murmur.

“These are the first victims,” Petey says with a frown, looking up and down the tank. “This tank got brought in because Trent and the drama club complained about not having a water tank for their ‘The Little Mermaid Christmas Parody’ production, so I managed to get just about enough budget money to buy it.”

A Christmas parody of The Little Mermaid… really, Trent?

“When did it come in?” I ask.

“A week ago,” he answers. “But as for everyone else, I don’t know when they got killed. But if the real killer hid inside the school - inside a locker, for example - then they made their way down to the basement and killed the prefects.”

“But how?” I blurted, “I saw one guy, you saw one guy too… do you think…” I trailed off and his lips pursed, “there’s more than one killer?”

“I want to assume that…” he grumbles, growing dismayed, “but if we act like there is, then we’re only going to panic. Also…” he turned his flashlight over to the camp beds where an empty bottle of vodka lay broken on the floor, “there’s no evidence of blunt force trauma. If one person tried to take on 4 conscious strong men then that’s a death wish. But what if…” his voice lightens, “...they got poisoned? With the bottle having a screw-on cap, and the prefects’ tendency to get drunk on whatever they could find, it’d be easy as hell to poison them.”

“But with wh--” I froze and his eyes went huge. “The chemistry lab! We got new chemicals in!”

“I know!” Petey gasps, looking at the bodies, “but Mr Watts is on that trip too, so he can’t have done this!”

“Or any other teachers,” I add before snorting, “unless Mr Hattrick wanted revenge for being fired.”

“I wouldn’t put it past him, but if anything it’d be Mr Galloway he’d poison,” he sighs. “No, but the delivered parcels haven’t been opened yet because they’re in the chemistry classroom.”

“Lemme guess - the classroom opens with a master key?”

Petey facepalmed, shaking his head before turning on his heel, saying: “We have to hurry.”

* * *

 

We left the basement and stepped out into the east wing corridor before turning directly to our left, and I quickly stop Petey from walking as I smelled the air.

“Petey…” I frown, and my heart began to race. “Do you smell that?”

He sniffs the air, humming. “Hey, that smells nice…” His frown furrows his brow. “TOO nice… I can’t describe it.”

“I dunno…” I look around, trying to find the source of the smell as we walk slowly, “I agree it smells good, like grandma’s marzipan cakes… but… dammit…” My head throbbed and I had to stop walking, “my head hurts…”

“Take it easy…” Petey says, but he also started to look pale, stumbling back, “i-it kinda smells like it’s coming from… the chemistry classroom…” We both look up, seeing a chair pushed against the handle of the door. “That… wasn’t there… before…”

The creamy smell… not like sweets, but… almonds.

“ALMONDS!” I yelled in panic and shot a look at Petey, “GET BACK! NOW”

“Why?!” he blinked, but obeyed me, hurrying back a couple of feet, “Jimmy, what the heck is going on?”

“Beatrice told me that cyanide smells like almonds!”

“Fuck!” Petey cried, “but why the chemistry classroom?!”

“Gimme your handkerchief, Petey!” I demand and without a word he quickly threw it to me and I held it over my mouth and nose.

I burst into a sprint, kicking the chair aside and yanked the door open, and I’m hit with the full force of a thick colourless cloud rolling over me. I squeezed my burning eyes shut before peeking and walking inside, seeing someone lying on the floor with their hands tied above their head to the light bulb hanging above with a long cable. The person seemed to be unconscious as they rested on their knees.

Trying to pull the cable, but it didn’t budge, I ran out the classroom and almost blacked out as I fell to my knees coughing and gagging for air. Petey dropped to his knees, holding my shoulders and yelling something, but my hearing dulled. Then my face jerked as Petey slapped me.

“..old of yourself!” he ranted, near tears, “what’s going on?! Jimmy! Can you hear me?”

“Y-yes!” I rasp and look back, remembering the face and name of the victim, “Beatrice is in there! She’s tied to the ceiling light but I don’t have any scissors to cut it!”

He suddenly stood up and pulled a firecracker from his pocket. Before I could yell at him, he charged past and I spun while still feeling weak, and watched him enter the classroom without wearing a scarf, then the noise of an explosion filled the room and my heart stopped.

“Petey!” My voice cracked and I forced myself to my feet, hurrying to the classroom, only to see the crazy bastard walk out, dragging the cable along with Beatrice’s body still tied to it. I help him pull her further away from the classroom until we’re by the lockers and we both collapsed, panting heavily as a headache pounded my nerves. My fingers twitched, but I gulped down as many heavy breaths as I could.

“I-I destroyed the light fixture instead…” I hear him wheezed, clutching his chest, “I had to do it…”

“No…” I shook my head, saying breathily; “quick thinking, Petey, that’s genius.”

He weakly smiled at me as I sat up, feeling the nerd’s neck, but no pulse. I quickly opened her mouth to listen for breathing, but nothing. I met Petey’s dismayed look and he hung his head low, shoulders shaking as his fists balled.

“W-w-we have to get rid of th-these clothes…” he blubbed, quivering, “th-the CDC says that c-contamination c-c-can get onto o-other c-c-c-clothing a-and poison other p-p-people…”

I just did as he was told. He lead me to the school shop which we broke into, dumped the clothes aside as we put on tracksuits over Gym shorts and Gym shirts. Also as instructed, using a binbag to bag them without touching the material, I took them to the front doors when Petey went ahead to the infirmary, peeking inside before disappearing for 3 seconds and returned with a lighter.

“Don’t tell anyone I took it off Lucky’s body,” he murmurs sadly, “but we need to burn the material…”

We just dumped the binbag full of ruined clothes in front of the building at the left-hand side, where Petey proceeded to burn it and it began to light up brightly. In the darkness of the blizzard-struck area, the bonfire felt nice to watch while I put my arm around Petey - mostly to comfort him.

“We…” he mutters in a daze, “we have to… get help…”

But I realised that he’s seen more hell than I have and regretted not dragging him back to the dorm sooner.

“Petey,” I say firmly, “let’s go to the library.”

“What? Why?” he stares at me.

“Because I got a feeling that the other guys are hiding out there,” I explain, “and if we rescue as many people as we can, then we can keep things under control. But you don’t have to follow me.”

“No!” he protests, “I’ll come with you! I want to get to the bottom of this mess too!”

“And we don’t even have master keys…” I mutter, “but library first, then Harrington House and lastly, the Auto Shop. We’ll just have to assume that the Girls’ dorm is secured.”

“And what if we meet the killer?” he asks unsurely.

“Then…” I inhale the smoke-tinted cold air, watching the fire burn on, “we give them the Bullworth treatment.”


	5. Foolish Pricks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter in ???'s POV.

_ Oh, you idiots, huddling and snuggling by your weird bonfire. You think you’re safe, but you’re not because I’m watching you right now. You may not see me, but I am like the cold air: free to go wherever the hell I want and chilling to feel. _

_ Thank you for saying your plans out loud, because now I know where to strike next to feel your terror. _

_ Nothing can save you now, boys. Especially you, Petey. Soon, you’ll feel my sweet revenge. _


	6. Winterlust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter in Petey's POV

So things have really gone to shit, huh?

I can’t believe Beatrice is gone too.

But now what?

Even as I follow Jimmy through the blizzard while holding onto his jacket sleeve with just a flashlight lighting our way, I wonder if it’s worth risking our lives finding other students possibly stranded in other buildings. We could at least wait until the morning or even until the blizzards stopped before going into town to find help. People can last for hours without food.

But it took a lot of physical effort walking through the heavy drifts. At least Jimmy’s well-built in that he’s got better stamina than me, otherwise I’d have passed out long ago in the snow.

Eventually, Jimmy called out and I looked up to see the familiar silhouette of the library ahead of us. Walking up the steps, we made it to the front doors, frantically pushing the wall of snow aside before Jimmy began to pound the door with his fists and yelling.

“IT’S JIMMY AND PETEY, LET US IN!”

It took about 10 seconds before the door creaked open and wary eyes peered through the gap before Jimmy just forced his way in and I hurried after him into the foyer of the building. Behind us, Melvin shut the door before Ricky pushed a sofa against it.

“Man, what’s going on?” Davis asked quickly, watching us dust the snow off ourselves. I look around and notice Bucky and Thad at one of the tables in deep discussion before throwing us suspicious looks. “We tried to get to the boys dorm on our own after someone broke our chain, but we ended up here. How’s the storm out there?”

“Fucking spectacular,” Jimmy snaps and shrugged his coat off quickly, “any second longer, and Petey and I would be icicles. How’s the fort holding up here? Who else is in here?”

Ricky walked into the main room, looking around as he said: “There’s me, Bucky, Thad, Davis, Melvin and…” he let out a heavy sigh: “TAD of all people.”

“I got lost trying to find Harrington House!” an indignant yell was heard from the top floor, where we look up to see Tad himself leaning on the balcony, “it’s too bloody blinding out there AND it’s colder than a witch’s tit!” David snorted immaturely.

“HAH! You said tit!” he chortled.

“Any dead bodies?” I joke and almost everyone looked at me. Jimmy inhaled.

“Don’t panic, but… we found more dead people.”

“You what?” Tad burst and left his spot to run and get down the stairs. Startled, the other refugees ran to us as Jimmy and I sat down at a bench for a much-needed rest.

“You guys only know about Sheldon, right?” They murmured and nodded. “Well... Angie was found dead too.”

“No!” Davis gasped, shaking his head, “that ain’t right! You gotta be lying!”

“I ain’t the kind of guy who makes lies like THAT!” Jimmy spat and I touched his shoulder to get him to calm down and sit again. “And…” He gulped, looking at Davis again, who grew paler by the second.

“No…” he uttered, “please don’t say it… please…” His eyes were starting to brim with tears but Jimmy held his head low. The others simply observed us in silent horror.

“Troy and Russell…” he said clearly, not making eye contact with anyone. “Trent saw Troy get killed. And Petey and I discovered Russell down in the Hole. I’m sorry, Davis.”

“You’re lying!” he burst, but tears ran down his cheeks, fists clenched. “NOBODY could defeat Russell! Nobody!”

“Except Jimmy,” Tad piped up with a frown and I shot him a look.

“Oh, can it, Tad!” I growl and his moth dropped in pure offence, “at the end of the day, Russell’s just an overpowered dumbass. He can’t just fight off a basebat bat with his bare ha--” I froze and suddenly grasped Jimmy’s arm. “JIMMY!”

“What?!” he yelled in shock and I flinched, but I quickly carried on.

“Russell can’t have resisted his attacker because he doesn’t have any bruises or cuts on his hands!”

Jimmy stared at me, looking lost. But thankfully Thad and Melvin gasped.

“Wait, lemme get this right,” Melvin inhaled, “how did Russell die exactly? Describe the crime scene!” But Davis just stormed off, wiping his face furiously.

“Lying on his back…” I murmured, “but it looked like someone was hitting his head over and over again.”

“Even for a strong guy like him, concussions are serious,” Thad piped up, “but why the Hole? How spread out was the crime scene?”

Jimmy massaged his own forehead, eyes shut as if trying to remember but grimacing. I spoke up for him.

“It’s just in the Hole,” I said, “o-obviously, there’s a lot of blood, but his hands didn’t look bloodied or cut.”

“So if he was just in the Hole, there’s plenty of places where he could easily see his attacker,” Thad said and Melvin snaps his fingers.

“Therefore, he’d only let someone come close if they’re someone he personally knows!” Jimmy’s head suddenly rose to look at him.

“Like a fellow student?”

“Or a teacher or prefect!” Thad concluded and Melvin high-fived him.

“Okay, okay,” Ricky interrupted, looking green, “but the teachers are away and the prefects may hate us, but they wouldn’t actually KILL us for being dicks!”

“Actually…” I start and they all looked at me. “We found the prefects dead. We think they were poisoned and then had their bodies thrown in a tank full of water in the boiler room.”

“Fucking hell!” Tad gawked, eyes wide, “the PREFECTS are dead!?”

They looked at each other in growing panic.

“We’re going to try and get you guys back to the boys dorm,” Jimmy said and they relaxed, “so it’s why we’re here to save your frozen asses.”

“I wouldn’t bother!” Thad blurted, “we’re actually quite content here!” But Jimmy rose an eyebrow at him and he deflated. “Oh fine - I just HATE being cold and the library is always so warm!”

“We CAN build a fire at the dorm,” Jimmy casually suggests, “we just gotta use some tinder and have it by the steps.”

“Like books?” Ricky says lightly and the nerds paled.

“Anything but the books!” Thad and Melvin cried at the same time and he chortled.

“OR we can just burn waste?” Tad says in irritation, crossing his arms, “there’s plenty of shredded paper beneath Mrs Carver’s desk.”

“Good!” Jimmy nods, standing up, “Melvin, Thad, you two are in charge of gathering the waste, but put a lid on it because the winds are picking up.”

While the nerds walked off, muttering to each other, Tad turns to Jimmy with a frown. His feet seem to keep scuffling as his arms tighten around himself.

“Say, where are my fellows?” he asks lowly, glancing over at Ricky smoking by the entrance, “and I mean the RIGHT kind of fellows.” Jimmy looked at me and I cough to clear my throat.

“At the dorm… there’s no other prep there,” I answer, going through the mental list of faces and names of students at the boys dorm. “We’re going to go to Harrington House after we drop you guys off at the dorm.” But Tad waved me off dismissively.

“That won’t do. I’ll come with you two to Harrington House.”

“Why?” Jimmy rose an eyebrow. “Safety in numbers, Tad.”

“Yes, yes, I know but--” he inhaled deeply, “I’d feel MUCH safer within Harrington House. It’s harder to break into AND we have a fireplace in there that we can use that’s actually built for-purpose and safe.”

“Really, now?” Ricky walked up and he jumped, paling as the greaser pats his back with a mock-friendly smile, “well, in that case, you’ll need security, eh? Someone like me to protect ya and your pals within the walls of yer cosy sanctuary.”

“D-DERBY won’t be happy,” Tad sniffs, stepping away from his touch and crossing his arms again, “besides, Harrington House is specially FOR people of our social class.” But Ricky tsked and wound his arm around his shoulders, making him gasp in horror.

“Oh, but who’s going to police that little law, little man?” he muttered, “in case ya haven’t noticed, there’s a killer about and you won’t be best pleased if you end up dead, so how about you let me and MY pals stay in your little sanctuary for free and we’ll fight off any intruders?”

“L-LITTLE MAN?” Tad shrieks, breaking away, “I am NOT going to sully myself letting you greaseballs into Harrington House!”

I decided to speak up at this amusing display: “By the way… We don’t actually know where Derby is. But…” I frowned in thought. “When we had that party at the dorm, where WERE you preps at before the murder alert came out on Sheldon?”

Tad huffed. “We were in Harrington House, of course, having our own little cocktail party. Derby heard the news of the murder and brought me with him, but I got lost with the lunatics who didn’t hold the human chain, so I went to the nearest building which happened to be this one… unfortunately.”

I looked at Jimmy, and we shared the same thought.

“Anyone who goes into a building…” he trails off.

“...Will be safe or in danger,” I finished and glanced around, but not seeing anything out of the ordinary. “Either way, the dorm is safe, so we have to get EVERYONE there, regardless.”

“Oh, fine!” Tad groaned and Ricky snorted, dropping his cigarette and stamping on it, scorching the floor with a blackened mark that cooled quickly.

“Excellent! His Lordship will be joining us Squires for tonight,” he huffs. As he said that, Thad and Melvin returned to our side, both holding two cardboard boxes full of confidential waste.

“Hey, anyone seen Davis?” Thad spoke up and we looked around but I sighed heavily.

“I’ll look for him,” I murmur, “I’m the one who gave him the bad news, after all.”

With Jimmy’s approving nod, I walk off while the group began their small talk, and I started to walk around the bookcases, calling out Davis’s name.

“Davis? We’re leaving now,” I call out, then deciding to take the stairs. It’s weird. There’s not many places to hide in the library, apart from under the tables on the top floor.

“Davis?” I say out loud again, peeping around corners of the giant bookcases but seeing no trace of him at all. I sigh and lean on the barrier, seeing the group still talking, except…

Something doesn’t feel right.

I sharply spin around.

Someone shoved me in the chest.

I flip upside-down, all vision a blur, as weightlessness overtook me.

“PETEY!!”

I land on something - someone - and they gasped.

Dizzy, I sat up, rubbing my head while Jimmy grunted and I stood up to let him take deep breaths while holding his arm.

“Fuck…” he hissed and the other guys hurried over to us. Ricky looked up with a snarl and pointed.

“Who the hell are you?!” he yelled and we all looked up to see a person wearing the black jacket, black gloves and the black balaclava that covered their entire face leaning over the balcony before suddenly taking off out of our sight.

“Don’t let them get away!” Tad shouted and ran after Ricky, ignoring Jimmy’s pained orders to stop.

“Don’t! He might have a weapon--” he inhaled sharply and squeezed his arm. “Fuck!”

“Jimmy?!” I kneel down beside him, “what-- how…”

“You were pushed, dummy!” he snapped, “how could you be so reckless!?”

“Well EXCUSE ME for not having eyes on the back of my head!” I ranted and he flexed his left fingers, only wincing a little and quickly stood up, looking at me.

“Stay with the nerds!” he snaps before running up the stairs. But instead, I followed him, and he is too determined to look back.

What I never realised until tonight was that there’s a fire exit on the upper floor leading to the rooftop of the library. It’s that I never really noticed it before until we both saw that it’s left wide open, obviously where the killer exited and followed by Tad and Ricky.

In the darkness of the claustrophobic staircase, we hurried up until we’re pelted with falling snow and saw Ricky ahead of us, just lying down on his side and already half-buried in snow.

“RICKY!” Jimmy yelled and we ran over. Fear iced my stomach as he shoved the snow off the body and he slapped Ricky’s face. He jerked and his eyes shot open and I gasped. “Ricky! Where’s Tad and the killer?!”

The greaser just stared at him, mouth hanging open as he moved onto his knees, shivering from the cold.

“Th-they went over…” he blinked, looking around and pointed ahead of him, and Jimmy shone the flashlight as he carefully walks over only to stop and turn.

“This is a rooftop,” he said, “they can’t have gotten anywhere else apart from the fire exit.”

“But Tad…!” he spoke up and coughed, holding his stomach, “the goddamn bastard punched and winded me… Wait…” He murmured and we hauled him up to his feet so we could hear him better over the howling winds, “I came out first, the jerk threw a suckerpunch just as I went out the door, I saw Tad throwing a punch at him, but then he…” his face fell and he yanked himself from our grips, running over to the edge of the drift-trapped roof and backed up, looking down with an anguished yell. “TAD!”

Jimmy and I ran over, stopping by his side, looking down at what Ricky’s seeing: Tad’s body lying on the cold hard ground with his body twisted and eyes still open.

“Fuck!” Jimmy hissed, turning to us, “Ricky, Petey, we HAVE to get everyone to the dorm as fast we can - no more fucking around or whatever, lives are at stake!” He looked at Ricky, who still stared down in shock, and he gripped his arm. “Ricky! Snap out of it!” He faced him, silently nodding as he half-dragged the greaser with him


	7. Suspicion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter in Jimmy's POV

“You don’t think it’s Davis, do you?” I whisper to Petey as we walk down the fire exit stairs with Ricky ahead of us, walking robotically.

“No,” he sighs, “and it’s best we avoid making assumptions otherwise it’ll confuse the fuck out of us. Besides, he adored Russell and Troy.”

Ricky said nothing until we made it to the ground floor, except Thad and Melvin are nowhere to be found.

“Goddammit!” I swore and looked around quickly, “THAD! MELVIN! Where are you guys?”

“You freaking kidding?” the greaser grumbled, “did they just fucking bail on us?”

“Looks like it,” Petey groaned, “maybe they got spooked and went to the boys dorm.”

“Whatever it is, let’s go there now,” I say, but Ricky turned around to face me, scowling.

“I’m going with you guys,” he said sternly, “I don’t exactly wanna go to the boys dorm with this crazy shit going on.”

“Fine,” I sighed heavily, “but you’re to STAY by our side and not leave us, not even for a piss!”

“Why?” he frowns, holding his hands out, “you think I’m the killer?”

“No!” I scoff, “Thad and Melvin and Davis saw you here the whole time.”

“Except DAVIS is nowhere to be found, which is rather fucking convenient,” he snapped, “just let me come with you. If that bastard killer is stronger than you, Jimmy, then you’ll need more manpower.” He looked at Petey, saying: “No offence.” He groaned.

“Full offence taken.”

We set foot outside, seeing Tad’s body almost completely covered in snow, and Ricky shut his eyes as he shook his head, walking to the body and kneeling down to gently pull his eyelids down with gloved hands.

“Let me take him indoors at least,” he says out loud, not looking at me, “the idiot will only complain if he’s cold.”

“Go ahead,” I murmur and even though I know he didn’t hear me.

We watch him lift Tad’s body to take inside the library foyer before returning a minute later, closing the door. We said nothing, but he nodded and we began to walk on towards the back of the school, matching each other’s paces.

The fountain was switched off because it’s Winter, but it’s ominous seeing the silhouette of the school symbol standing tall high above us. Luckily, it gave us a good clue which way to turn in the blistering wind.

We turn left, and ahead of us is Harrington House, which we hurry towards to. Ricky beat us to it though, and started hammering the door with his fist.

“HEY, DICKBAGS!” he roared, “TAD’S DEAD BECAUSE YOU WEREN’T LOOKING OUT FOR HIM, SO LET US IN!”

“Ricky!” Petey hissed, coming by his side, “they’ll feel less inclined to let us in!”

But to MY surprise, the door opened and Pinky stared at Ricky.

“Tad is dead?” she whispers, wide-eyed, “our Tad? Tad S-Spencer?” The greaser just pushed past her.

“Yeah, him.”

She shrieked because he tracked in dirt on the floor, but Petey and I entered as well and I shut the door, locking it quickly. She smiled upon seeing me, brushing her hand through her hair.

“Oh, hi, Jimmy,” she giggles and I realise that she’s only wearing her pyjamas. Nothing sexy, unfortunately, but still really cute: a soft-pink pyjama button-up shirt and bottoms and bunny slippers. “What brings you here?”

“I’m taking everyone to the dorms,” I said, “we’ll all be safer if we’re altogether.” Her face fell.

“But it’s much warmer here!” she protests and Petey helpfully walks away, leaving me alone to deal with a well-known spoiled brat. Asshole.

I inhaled and stepped close, and she kindly leaned down to lend me her ear with a sneaky grin.

“I’ll take you to the girls dorm and give you my sweater as a pauper-style good-luck charm.”

She giggled and sneakily kissed my cheek.

“Much better,” she coos and then I quickly walk after Petey into the main living room where Derby sat by the roaring fire in his ridiculous smoking jacket and holding a pipe in his hand.

What amused me most was that the other preps still wore their clothes looking nervous about my presence while for some strange reason Ivan and Gordon both wore traditional French maid outfits - with the skirts being incredibly short and barely covering their asses.

I sniffed the air, but not detecting any drugs, so I decided to ask the most sensible question in this moment:

“Derby, what the fuck is going on?” and gestured at the only non-clique guys in this room. Derby chuckled while Bif glanced away, obviously uncomfortable with the weird-ass situation here.

“So you found me,” he said simply, “I figured that since we’ll be very safe here with our double-glazed windows, thick doors and steady supply of baseball bats, we will stay here until the cops arrive to arrest you, Hopkins.”

“You what?” I spluttered and felt my fight-or-flight shit go off. “What for?”

“You heard me!” Derby declares haughtily, standing up. It was with that gesture I realised that Bryce, Chad and Justin circled us as if trapping us. Petey’s back touched mine while Ricky cursed under his breath, holding his fists up immediately. “Sheldon’s death is a tragedy, but it’s not like people of his colour and social status will have a chance at reaching the top percent or even the halfway point. If anything, you spared us from giving his future brood social handouts. But as a future congressman...” he sighs as he trailed off, shaking his head. “...I must have at least one good public deed accomplished, and that is arresting a murderer for the death of one innocent soul!”

“You’re off your fucking mind!” I yelled and Chad inched closer, keeping a steely gaze on me. “I can hurt HALF of this school but never lay a finger on a kid! I’m not a scumbag who hurts small kids!”

“But it’s as Gary said once to me,” Derby chuckled, “you’re a psychotic monster at the end of the day, and with your poor background it’s understandable. You’re angry because nobody ever helped you before and you’ll die alone before you can even make a worthy accomplishment.”

I stare at him, and I immediately forgot about the pain in my left arm as my heart began to race.

“Jimmy, they’re closing in,” Ricky hissed without me looking at him, “what are we gonna do? If we leave them, the killer will get them!”

“Jimmy, hurry!” Petey whispered quickly and I peek over my shoulder to his side to see Bryce holding a fucking horse whip of all things. “Decide now, man! You’re the boss!”

But Derby overheard him on that with a loud cackle.

“Not any longer, plebian!” he spat, “I’M the boss of this school! I can buy ANYTHING I want in life! And my word will be LAW in this wretched school!” He quickly pointed at me - at us - and something clicks in my mind immediately. “SEIZE THEM!”

“WAIT!” I yell and the goons stopped themselves in confusion. I groan and look at the clique idiot again. “Derby, Gary is OLD news. Why even bother mentioning him?” But Bif quickly stepped by his master’s side, hissing.

“He’s stalling us! He’s planning an escape!”

But Derby ignored him with a scoffing noise of disapproval. “No, he isn’t.”

“No, I’m not,” I said lightly and Chad scratched his head. But Bif snapped.

“Yes, you ARE!” he pointed at me, “you’re gonna fight your way out of this over MY dead body! I’ll take you down one-by-one and hand your unconscious bodies to the cops!”

“Excellent idea!” the blonde preps says breezily, sitting back down and calling out past us: “Pinky, sweetie, come sit on my lap!” And Pinky skipped past us, shooting me an apologetic look before sitting down on Derby’s lap and winding her arm around his neck with a giggle. “This is more like it. Bif, carry on. Boys, get some betting slips ready. Ivan and Gordon will gladly fetch us some more drinks from the kitchens.” The mentioned non-clique boys just groaned in pure embarrassment before quickly slinking off towards the kitchen area past the swinging doors.

“Hell yeah!” Ricky grinned, but I held his shoulder.

“Ricky,” I hurriedly whisper, “I want you to explore this place with Petey to look for the killer and make sure all exits are sealed.”

“Dammit,” he growled, glaring at me, “I thought you said we weren’t going to fuck around after seeing Tad dead?”

Bif overheard that just as he approached me, suddenly freezing.

“Tad’s dead?” he uttered, wide-eyed.

“Bif! No more chit-chat, please!” Derby said but the redhead spun on his heel to face him.

“Tad is dead, Derby!” he blurted, “didn’t you hear them?!” But the leader waved him off, rolling his eyes.

“Would you believe the words of a killer?” he says airily, “now go beat up Jimmy.”

“I-I don’t think I…” He looked between us.

“He ain’t lying, Bif,” Ricky said lowly, arms relaxed, “he was with me. We went after the killer - to the library rooftop, but I got knocked down and…” The lump in his throat bobbed as he gulped. “The bastard pushed him off the roof… and obviously used him as a landing cushion… a-and broke his neck…”

The other preps stared at him in shock before glancing at each other.

But Derby was losing patience, practically shoving Pinky off his lap as he stood up quickly, storming up to Bif with a dark look.

“Fight him, Bif,” he uttered, “he’s obviously trying to toy with you to stall for time!”

Bif looked at Ricky, but he still held his gaze with balled-up fists. His green eyes closed and he turned to Derby.

“I won’t.”

Derby’s mouth hung open before he seized his collar into his fist with a snarl.

“What did you just say?” he hissed and Bif stared at him, “are you disobeying me?”

“Kinda looks like he is,” Petey uttered and Derby heard him, whipping his head to glare at him.

“What did you just--”

_ WHAM! _

Derby immediately crumpled to the ground and our surprised looks turned to Bif’s fist before it relaxed and he exhaled shakily.

“Fuck, he’s going to kill me…” he muttered and Pinky shrieked, dropping to her knees by Derby’s unconscious body. Meanwhile, the other three preps began to cheer and applaud and pat his back.

“Jolly good hit!” Chad nodded approvingly. “I’ve always wanted to do that to him.”

“You’re a legend, Bif!” Justin chuckled.

It’s as if they’re treating this like a soap-opera drama.

“Bif,” I spoke up and the redhead glanced at me with uncertainty. “Can you truss up this crazy loon and lock him in the closet or something? I got a feeling he’ll be safer that way than causing trouble in the dorm.” He nodded with a shivering smile, not quite calming down.

“You have my word, Jim,” he affirms and called the other boys to help him onto the plush chair with it’s high back.

Ricky still laughed hard, wiping his eyes while Petey giggled.

“I wish I had my camera,” the greaser snorts.

“Agreed!” Petey gasps, smiling, “he deserved that for being a classist racist asshole.”

Now that Derby is put in time-out, time to round up the group here.

* * *

 

With Derby unconscious and tied down to his chair with a suspicious number of cable ties, I stood by the fire’s dying embers while Ricky, Petey, Ivan and Gordon (still in the maid outfits as their other clothes were disposed of for Derby’s amusement), Chad, Bryce, Justin, Pinky and Bif watched me.

“Alright, gents… and Lady,” I nod at Pinky and she nods with tightly-pursed lips, obviously displeased with Derby’s treatment. “So as Petey and I discovered, there is a murderer on the loose, and they killed ten people already. Including Tad.” The boys shared pained glances and comfortingly touched each other’s shoulders. “And… the prefects have been killed as well.” They shot me horrified glances.

“Woah, woah - the prefects too?!” Bif blurted.

“Yes,” I breathe, “so we’re going to need everybody keeping an eye on each other in the boys and girls dorms. To do that, I’m going to escort you lot to the boys dorm and Pinky to the girls.”

“Can’t we stay here?” Bryce spoke up unsurely, “because we haven’t had any weirdos come into this building ever since…” he frowned at me, crossing his arms, “...you killed Derby’s Crapula Maxima last year.”

I retort: “Well, as long as Bif doesn’t let in anyone wearing an Aquaberry sweater, then we’ll be safe.” The redhead scratched his neck uncomfortably and Chad coughed.

“Hey, it’s not like I’m blind or anythi--”

“In any case, let’s just get outta here now,” Ricky interrupted.

“What about Derby?” Petey said and I snort.

“Soon as he wakes up, we’ll cut him loose and take him to the dorm too.”

“I SURE hope so!” Pinky suddenly barked, storming up to me and prodding my chest with her finger, “because I won’t let you treat him like this!”

“But didn’t you break up with him?” I blinked and she let out a high-pitched laugh.

“Well, DUH, I did! But then I decided that he’s the one for me!” she sighs with a smile, “it’s not because you’re poor, Jimmy, but it’s because he’s very…” she dropped to my height to whisper: “...well-endowed and tall.”

Ouch.

“Uh…” We all look at Gordon, and then Ivan spoke up quickly to get our attention. Damn, they look so similar, they could be twins. “If you morons want to focus on shit, then can we at least borrow some clothes to get warm if we’re going back? I obviously don’t WANT to die before I could attend an Ivy League school.” The rest of us roll our eyes.

“Just grit your teeth,” Justin chuckled, “but since I’m feeling rather charitable today, I’ll go fetch you two a spare pair of---” He suddenly coughs, spluttering into his hand. “Pair of…” Frowning, he moved his hand, seeing bloody droplets on his palm and he gasped audibly before coughing again violently without stopping.

“Justin!” Everyone immediately knelt beside him in panic.

I look around quickly while his friend frantically spoke to him, patting his back, when my eyes fell upon the coffee table where there are five glasses with drops of wine left in them.

“Bif!” I yell and he looked at me, going pale, “where are your wines kept?!”

“T-t-t-the pantry!” he blurted and stood up.

“Show me!” I demanded and I quickly followed him into the kitchen that Gordon and Ivan went into earlier - into the cleanest and biggest kitchen I’ve ever seen. At the far end, there is a trapdoor propped open which Bif descended down into.

It’s no surprise that there’s an underground cellar that’s moderately-sized compared to what I thought as there’s only 9 bottles left. Bif snatched one off the rack only for the cork to pop off immediately and he let out a loud yell, throwing it at the wall and it burst into millions of pieces.

“They’ve been tampered with!” he raged, facing at me, “somebody’s broken the seal - not just on this, but all of them!”

His face softened, then we shared a panicking thought.

“POISON!” we blurt and we burst into a run up the steps, to the kitchen where Petey and Ricky collided into us with paling expressions.

“Jimmy! The wine was--”

“--Poisoned!” Ricky interrupted him and shoved a bowl of utensils off the counter in anger. “There’s nothin’ we could do! Dammit!”

Bif pushed past us, holding his stomach and I’m hit with a paralysing realisation. Bif.

We followed him into the main room, but seeing Justin curled up on the floor in a puddle of his own blood and vomit; and lying on top of him was Bryce who also appeared to have coughed and vomited until he passed out on top of him. But nearby, twitching violently and choking on his own fluids, Chad barely mustered the strength to look at us. Bif fell to his knees, carefully turning his head to the side and his bloody vomit spilled onto his lap. The prep’s bloodshot eyes stared at us, before he stilled.

Meanwhile, I turn, seeing Pinky sitting on the sofa also suffering from the same fate, hurling and sobbing into a brass chamberpot with choking coughs interrupting her crying.

“J-J-Jimmy! Help m-m-me!” she whimpered before a glob of clotted blood burst from her raw lips and she lurched forward, dropping the pot onto herself as she fell and seizures rampaged her body.

I didn’t know what to do. I just held her head on my lap, letting her splurt out her fluids over my trousers while her voice distorted deeply. I look at the wine glasses, at Ivan and Gordon standing by the wall in obvious panic and horror, and at Derby still restrained in his seat except it’s only now that I noticed that he hasn’t moved since we knocked him out. But a trickle of blood seeped over his open lips - and with the cable ties restraining him we barely notice him having a seizure.

“You’re gonna be fine, Pinky,” I murmur to the girl and she sobbed, still trembling all over, “you’ll be in pain, but it won’t be long. You’ll go unconscious, then you’ll wake up in the hospital completely clean and free from pain, a-and…” Her bloodshot brown eyes stared at me and I couldn’t find any more words. I held her hand, giving it a squeeze and she made a noise. Either the poison made her sweat or she’s starting to cry. “...I’ll be there. With flowers. And movie tickets. VIP ones so we can get those fancy seats in the best spot and get unlimited free drink refills… I promise.”

I didn’t know if she heard me, or if she can even comprehend me, but she eventually stopped moving. And breathing. And then I knew she’s gone.

“Jimmy?” Petey murmured, touching my shoulder and I flinch, but he held on.

I turn around, seeing Bif just kneeling down with his head hung low and his face in his hand. Ricky suddenly storms over to Ivan and Gordon with a snarl.

“Did you fuckers poison them?!” he yelled and they whimpered.

“No!” Bif cried out and stood up, cheeks wet, “they didn’t. The seals were broken on all the wine bottles. Someone poisoned every one of them. We made them put those clothes on, so they couldn’t have carried anything in their maid outfits.”

“Wait!” Petey spoke up, hurrying to his side and peering at his face with a frown. “Ivan and Gordon wouldn’t be allowed to drink the wine, but how come you haven’t been poisoned?”

“I…” he looked at us hesitantly, and Ricky cracked his knuckles in anticipation with a glare. Bif sighed heavily. “I take antidepressants. Doc told me I can’t have alcohol because it’ll ruin the effects of ‘em. So I’m sober for a good reason. Only Derby knows so that he can tell me when to not take them for boxing matches. If I’m depressed, I’m less likely to lose.”

“That’s sick,” I grumble, getting to my feet, “but they saved you in more than one way.”

“Derby…” Bif’s eyes widened and he looked at the body in the chair, but Derby’s already been dead for a while. Still, it’s not hurting the boxer any less as he stumbled over to hold his chin up, but only seeing the blood that’s built up in his mouth and streaming onto his lap. “NO! DERBY!” And he let out a cry, hugging the body while absolutely shaking all over. “DERBY! WAKE UP, YOU IDIOT!”

I said nothing, only glancing at Pinky’s body and feeling my grief match Bif’s. Except his tears could fill a swimming pool and his screams might as well be heard from the other side of the world as his voice weakened into full-blown sobs.

So it’s just me, Petey, Ricky, Gordon, Ivan and Bif now…


	8. Devastation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter in Petey's POV

So not only have we lost Tad, but most of the preppies have been wiped out in one fell swoop because someone poisoned their wines. That’s just dirty. Miraculously, Bif didn’t die, but he might as well have by the lost look in his eyes as he gave two spare coats to Ivan and Gordon - who were forced to wear maid outfits for Derby’s amusement. He suddenly looks not younger but more vulnerable.

“We grew up together,” he murmured to me even though I didn’t say anything to him, “always together, we never fought or argued until tonight. I never punched him before outside of the ring. I used to grow up promising that I’ll be his personal bodyguard so that I can be with him forever… But things don’t always work out.”

“Pinky?” I mutter and he nods, wiping his cheeks. I was always under the impression that he primarily liked girls but I guess I should’ve known.

At that moment, Jimmy approached us along with Ricky and we faced them.

“Alright, men…” Jimmy breathed, “let’s get you lot back and Ricky and I will continue the search.” I froze and suddenly gripped his arm, staring at him. “What…?” he sounded hesitant, as if knowing what I’m going to say.

“I’m coming with you,” I mumbled but he shook my hand off him.

“It’s too dangerous. I realised that…” He paused, looking at the other four males before sighing, “Petey, I don’t want to take any more risks. You have to get to safety.”

“Why? Because I’m weak?” I snapped and he jumped. “Because I’m a pest? Oh, so THAT’S how it is! What a shocking surprise!”

“Petey,” Ricky quickly spoke up, “it ain’t even because of that!”

“Bullshit!” I yelled, “it’s ALWAYS been this way! Everyone walks over me because I’m the weak dork who isn’t a nerd and is a nobody! Well Gary was right this whole time anyway! I’m a sissy weak girl with no strength or redeemable qualities apart from whatever brains I got!”

I storm off to the doors, yanking it open, but arms suddenly wrap around me, and curse my weak small body for--

“Petey, wait,” Ricky whispered and I stiffened, looking over my shoulder at him in shock. His brown eyes met mine, and I’m aware of my heart hammering away beneath my chest with his leather-clad arms wrapped around it.

“What?” I murmur, but he still didn’t let go, yet he hesitated to talk again. “C’mon, this isn’t the time to joke around…”

“I-I’m not!” he blurted and let go of me, “Petey, you can be weird and you called Peanut gay, but you ARE a likeable guy. You’re not a jock either, so that’s another bonus.”

“If you’re trying to cheer me up, it’s not working,” I sighed before shivering and closed the door. “I’ve always held myself back. All I could do is give advice and ideas for other people to act on. I’m the Head Boy as well and I’m supposed to be helping people…”

“You’re prepared to lead the school, not a rescue party,” he said carefully, “it’s true that you’re a helpful guy, but only with theory and stuff. We need brawns for this mission and Jimmy would only feel like crap if anything happened to ya.”

“Yeah, right.”

Appropriately at that moment, Jimmy jogged up to us, panting.

“Don’t run off like that while there’s a killer on the loose!” he ordered, “we already lost too many people to count!”

Then I saw it in his eyes: uncharacteristic worry. In his own way, I guess he does care.

“I’m sorry,” I deflated. “I’ll go back to the boys’ dorm. It’s just that… you’re my best friend. A jerk, yeah, but a friendly one.”

Jimmy said nothing, only stepping close to rest his chin on my shoulder while his arm wrapped my waist. I could only stare ahead as Ivan, Bif and Gordon engaged in small talk, with the prep looking much calmer than he was moments ago.

“You’re my best friend too, Petey. It’s WHY I want you to be safe.” He let go of me, awkwardly holding my shoulder before he removed his hand. “So live. Stay alive for me, alright?”

I tipped forward to hug him around his torso and he let out a wheeze as I winded him, burying my face into his chest.

“Promise…”

I hate making promises. But I didn’t exactly promise to STAY at the dorm.

It’s why as soon as Ricky and Jimmy left together, heading directly ahead towards the autoshop area and I walked with Bif, Gordon and Ivan, I impulsively took a matchbox from Bif’s back pocket that he kept for his smokes and hid it in my pocket.

The moment we stepped into the boys dorm much to the celebratory cheers of the survivors, I sneakily stepped back outside and burst into a sprint before anyone could stop me.

* * *

 

Despite the snow still falling, it did so in a less intense frequency. Still, the clouds smothered the sky and I had to be careful trudging through the snow at the bottom of the nearest tree or bush before finding a broken branch and I tried to light it up with one of Bif’s matches, but the wood is too damp. I have to find something else. Jimmy has my flashlight too. Dammit, why didn’t I think of this plan sooner?

I remembered something. I went to the trashcan nearest to the boys’ dorm, dumped as many sticks in there as possible before dropping a lit match inside and set the contents in the metal object on fire, creating a nice cosy beacon to give some light out to the area in case of an emergency.

“Nice idea, Kowalski.”

A breath over my ear. I screamed and spun around, but saw nobody.

I can’t stop shaking. I can’t breathe. The wind blew, but I was so sure that Gary just spoke into my ear just then.

“Petey!” Someone cried and I sharply glance at the boys’ dorm to see Bif standing there, peering at me before running over. “Come on, man, you’ve got to stay inside… why did you set the bin on fire?”

“T-t-t-t-t-t--” my teeth chattered. I desperately wanted to say  _ ‘to guide Jimmy and the others back to this dorm. _ ’ but his eyes softened and he sighed.

“I understand. You have a really small body so of course you’re going to get colder. Just like Derby when he was way younger.”

I could only nod in shock as he put his hand on my back, easing me into the direction of the boys’ dorm, instantly surrounding me with people talking in low murmurs and conspiratorial arguments but I slouched back to my room, and the whispers dissolved into laughter and cackles in the depths of my mind without Gary to punch anyone who made any slights against me so that I could be groomed to be his friend--

My fists tensed. I can’t do this. I can’t just obediently stay here while my only true friend is out there in harm’s way. For some twisted reason, I want to be with Jimmy even when something bad happens.

But I’m sure that Bif is keeping an eye out for me, so I can’t just leave through the front door…

Instead, I went to the window, crusted with years of dried mould but with a persistent push I manage to open it and the cold wind welcomed me. I look at my door, seriously considering going back to see if Bif’ll help me, but he’ll just tell me to stay and everybody else… I can’t trust.

With my resolve, I took a deep breath, hoisted myself over the windowsill, and landed in the snow before making another mad dash towards the burning bin, taking a moment to let the warmth wash over me and temporarily relieve my freezing hands within my gloves…

There’s a body in the trashcan.

I froze, feeling my blood chill, as I recognised the melting face of Parker as his flesh cooked with the intense flames, Aquaberry sweater burning into charred fibres along with his trousers, socks and shoes. One of them fell off onto the ground, just burning away and I look over to see Trent at the crossroad staring at me in pure shock before running away.

“T-TRENT, WAIT!” I yelled and ran after him.

I think it’s him that’s shouting out loud in panic, because there’s nobody else out here and I’m certainly saving my voice to breathe and trying to run.

“STAY AWAY FROM ME!” he shrieked, “NO! NO! LEAVE ME ALONE!”

“I DIDN’T KILL PARKER!” I shouted, but he ignored me and ran around the corner, and I knew it from the moment I went around the corner that I lost sight of him. I was too late.

Looking to my right, the car park is a perfect winter wonderland of snow, except the night has been marred with horrifying deaths. But if I’m by the car park, then it means I’m right by the garages and the autoshop.

So I hurried through the exit of the autoshop area.

...And immediately got knocked down to the ground by someone with a wrench against my throat.

“Who goes there?!” someone yelled and their eyes widened, relieving the pressure on me and I coughed. “Petey! What the hell are you doing here?”

I peered at his face to remember his name before uttering “Hal?”

“That’s me,” the large guy nods and offered me his hand, and I reluctantly accepted it. “What are you doin’ here? It ain’t safe!”

“No shit, Sherlock,” I grumbled, “but why are you out here?”

“Oh, I’m just on patrol,” he shrugs, “even though Jimmy told me not to… hey, let’s bring you to him!”

I froze and shook my head. “I-I was actually heading to the Gym. I-I-I thought I saw a student run there.”

I’d have thought that upon seeing a corpse burning in a bin I would’ve been screaming it out to him by now, yet I kept eerily quiet.

But Hal wasn’t having any of it as he snorted. “Psh! Come on, I’m sure he’ll be happy to see ya.”

I can’t argue with someone holding a wrench as an improvised weapon.

* * *

 

Jimmy is not happy to see me.

As Hal lead me into the Shop classroom, he immediately crossed his arms and Ricky groaned. Meanwhile, Johnny, Gord, Constantinos, Zoe, Donald and Lola watched me enter with surprise in their faces.

“Well, well…” Johnny said lowly, “you made it all the way here on your own?”

“Yup…” I mumbled and approached Jimmy, but he held his hand up in dismay, “Jimmy, I found Parker’s body in the trashcan outside the boys’ dorm.” Startled looks stared at me and Gord gasped.

“Never!” he muttered, wide-eyed. “Are you sure?”

“Before he was burnt to a crisp, yeah,” I grumble and he gagged.

“BURNT?”

“I--” My voice rose, but the only person not interested in listening to me is Jimmy, who just fiddled with a screwdriver while sitting on a counter. But Johnny walked over to me with a frown.

“How?” he asked in a deep tone and I inhaled, leaning back against a table for support.

“I… I actually went out to the trashcan and burned the rubbish inside so that it can help guide people to the boys’ dorm.” Jimmy actually looked over at me as I said that. “But Bif dragged me inside again, but I snuck out through the window and then I found Parker’s body in there…” Gord said nothing, only putting his coat on and running to the door when Hal blocked his way.

“Wait, you can’t just rush out there unprotected!” he argued as Gord unsuccessfully tried to push him out the way, voice becoming high-pitched.

“MY FRIEND IS DEAD!” he cried out, “let me out! I must get to him and least get SOMETHING off him!”

“Gord, wait!” Zoe cut across and snatched his arm, and he glared at her, yanking his arm away. “You heard what Jimmy’s been saying about people dying around us! If you just rush out, you might end up dead!”

But Gord scoffed. “See if I care! I’m a boxer!”

“And so was Bryce!” I burst, but he didn’t turn to face me. “And Chad, Derby and Justin.”

“They’re dead… too?” I hear him speak softly. “How?”

As neither Jimmy or Ricky spoke up, I carried on, saying: “Someone snuck into the wine cellar, broke the seals on all the wines and put poison in them. Ivan and Gordon were forced to give your friends some drinks by Derby because he was being twisted and used them to carry out menial work, so they couldn’t have known that the wine you guys drink were meant to be sealed as they never grew up rich.”

“I see…” he mumbled, finally turning around to face me. “And Jimmy didn’t think of telling me that my friends have been murdered the moment he got here too.”

“Gord, I WAS going to tell you,” Jimmy intervened, “but you were too busy arguing about this social class shit with Hal and Johnny to even listen.”

“Oh, like YOU’RE an expert on listening!” Gord snapped and crossed his arms, “I’ve always been around to give you a good smooch, Hopkins, but when it comes to dating you’d always rather be elsewhere!”

“I get that sometimes with him too,” Zoe added unhelpfully and Jimmy groaned (“Zoe, please.”) “But I’m sure he has commitment issues because his mom’s insecure about her own self-esteem and makes up for it by dating men way older than her.”

“And they say that sons often date women who are just like their mothers,” Jimmy murmured under his breath and Lola giggled.

“Only if you’re like a bona fide Italian man in his thirties,” she comments and Zoe grins at that before high-fiving her.

“Hey, uh…” Constantinos spoke up and we all look at him, “so if we wanna live, then like, let’s just go now before something happens, alright?”

“He’s right,” Johnny gruffs as he zipped up his jacket, “let’s get going already. How do you wanna do this, Jimmy?”

I’m sure Jimmy was telling everyone about forming another human chain, but my mind just dazed off as I look around the classroom, seeing that everything has been tidied up meticulously. All the tools are on the walls, the blackboard’s been scrubbed clean looking practically brand-new, the spare sawing tables folded and hung, the automotive lift is high up carrying a car upon it connected to a battery, humming…

A headache pulsed in my head and I frown. The other guys seem to be confused too and Jimmy began to slur his words before realising something is wrong.

I burst into a run to the classroom door, jiggling the handle, but it was locked.

“OPEN THE WINDOWS!” I yelled and without a word, everyone ran to the other classroom windows but they were sealed shut. I look at the window closest to me that Jimmy tried to pry open but it looked like someone glued them down with clear silica gel.

“I-I can’t breathe!” Donald wheezed, down on his knees. Lola coughed, leaning against Johnny while Constantinos collapsed to the floor.

“Tools! Where?!” I gasp, grabbing Hal’s arm and he looked at me before glancing down at his wrench.

He suddenly swings it at the window and smashes it, banging the shards and he quickly picked me up without asking and threw me outside and into the snow.

Gasping in the cold air, I look up as Gord clambered out, followed by Lola and Zoe, Donald… Constantinos wasn’t conscious as he slumped to the ground and I pulled him aside to make way for Hal, Ricky and finally, Jimmy.

Coughing and spluttering, Johnny was the last to leave as he glared back at the building.

“What the fuck?!” he gasps, holding his head, “what…”

“C-c-carbon monoxide, you dolts!” Donald hissed, shivering all over, “it’s obvious and you guys call yourselves mechanics! What idiot turned on a car engine in there?!”

“Nobody did!” Hal yelled at him, “we’re not so stupid that we’d gas ourselves and even if we were, carbon monoxide is odourless!”

But Jimmy, Ricky and I shared a knowing look.

“It’s obvious that the killer locked us in there to gas us!” Ricky explained and everyone looked at him. “The windows were sealed down with gel so we couldn’t open them!”

“And the tools weren’t in the classroom,” I pointed out and they gave me startled looks.

“It was a goddamn trap!” Johnny snarled while Lola held his arm, shaking all over. He put his hand over hers. “Let’s just get outta here.”

“Form a chain, people,” Jimmy ordered and held his hand out to Zoe (which she takes), then Gord, Constantinos, Ricky, Hal, Donald, Lola, Johnny and then me, in last place like always.

“We’re ready, Jimmy,” Zoe announced and we began our walk through the latest bout of heavy snowfall.

None of us said anything. I’m sure Jimmy’s furious that I turned up but I got a horrible feeling that if I hadn’t turned up then they’d all be dead.

Johnny’s hand held mine tightly, keeping me warm. Wow, no wonder Lola likes him so much…

We went through the second garage, the one before leading to the yard near the broken-down school bus--

Rattling.

Johnny suddenly looked up, yelled and shoved Lola away from him as a shutter came crashing down, separating us from the rest of the group.

“Johnny, the other shutter!” I burst and we ran back, but then the other shutter slammed shut, dipping this garage into complete darkness.

“Johnny! Petey!” Jimmy yelled from the other side of the metal as he banged on it. “Hold on, I’ll push it open!”

But the door clattered hopelessly, lifting only half a millimeter up before it jammed.

“What the fuck is going on?!” Johnny shouted.

“Johnny!” Hal’s voice piped up. “These shutters are brand new with electronic locks activated only with those key fobs!”

“Johnny!” Jimmy exclaimed, “how many of those spare fobs does the school have?!”

“Only Neil and Seth the prefect have them!” he replied.

“FUCK!” Jimmy yelled and kicked the shutter, “you guys sit tight, I’ll find a crowbar! Ricky, take these guys back to the dorm, and Zoe and Lola, you two run to the girls dorm together!”

“No, I’m not leaving Johnny behind!” Lola cried.

“Lola, babe, you HAVE to run!” the greaser leader demanded, “I want you to be safe!”

While they argued through the metal, I shivered from the cold and tried peering through the darkness to see if there’s anything useful in here, but it looked like the tools were put away somewhere safer. Just a table and a trashcan with a lid on it.

“Lola, sweetie, please! I love you, doll!” Johnny pleaded, “I swear, later on, I’ll treat ya to a movie and take you out on a ride on my gal. Okay?”

“Really?! On your precious motorbike? Oh, Johnny, of COURSE I will! Just be safe, okay?” I hear her simper and I try not to vomit in my mouth.

“Johnny,” Jimmy spoke up through the gap at the bottom of the shutter, “give us 10 minutes, I swear. And Petey, hang in there too.”

“Yessir,” I say simply.

“And thanks,” he said suddenly, “thanks for saving us.”

I smiled and then the footsteps hurried away as Johnny let out a heavy sigh, sitting on the ground. The garage wasn’t deluged in snow on the inside, but at least we could sit on the concrete floor without worrying about getting our asses wet.

“Come on, sit down, I won’t bite,” he joked and I laughed nervously, hopping onto a table instead and letting my legs dangle. “So... “ his face drops, “how many?”

I exhale and relaxed. “Sixteen…”

“Christ…” Johnny breathes. My eyes have adjusted to the dark enough to see him press his face into his hands. “Who?”

I’m fed up of it. I’m fed up of naming the dead and numbering them.

“I understand,” the leader said after moments of silence I didn’t realise had passed, “and you saw Lucky get stabbed too.”

“I’m sorry about him,” I mumbled, “he’s on a bed in the infirmary. Vance and Lefty were with him until he died.”

“They have good hearts,” Johnny muttered, “Vance especially wears his on his sleeve.”

But I can only think of the times I saw them tormenting the kids and fighting the preps before being restrained by the prefects. Then I thought of the uneasy peace that ruled the school during Jimmy’s kingly reign where very little fighting went on with him around and most fights took place in the Hole with his supervision. He turned something menial like fighting and made it into a sport to be performed under controlled circumstances. He made it so that if someone does want to fight, they can declare it to others and then agree on a place to fight at. But it’s not just the Hole, we even started having one-to-one fights in the middle of the football field because the prefects barely go there on their patrols (with my specific order to them as Head Boy to not bother going there.)

But even when people started dying around me, I can’t help but think only of the negative stuff they caused. I’d feel more sorry if Tad if he hadn’t essentially created an ambush for Jimmy at his own house, I’d pity Derby if he wasn’t such an asshole, I’d mourn Troy if he didn’t give me super-hard wedgies in my first year at Bullworth. But there are others I definitely feel bad for, like Angie, Sheldon, Beatrice…

“Petey?” Johnny spoke up and his silhouette moved. "The boys are taking their sweet time.”

And I murmured a ‘yeah’ when something flew over my mouth, a needle stabbed my neck and I hear a sickening crunching noise.


	9. Accusation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter in Jimmy's POV.

“Will they be okay?” Ricky suddenly bursts as we jog away from the boys’ dorm after dropping off the survivors from the auto shop. “I mean, they’re TRAPPED and the killer will have both fobs to easily get in and kill them!”

Catastrophising much, Richard Pucino?

“I hope so,” I grumble, keeping a good grip on the spare crowbar that is mysteriously kept in the boys’ dorm cleaning cupboard.

We reach the car park, went around the brick wall until we made it to the garage door and Ricky slapped the metal.

“Hey, guys, get ready for rescuin’!” he called out and without any prompting I latch the end of the crowbar against the tiny gap at the bottom of the shutter, pulling a brick over from nearby for leverage, but then suddenly the door startled clattering as it rose on its own.

Johnny’s lying on the ground in a puddle of blood, head next to a heavy looking rock, and Petey stood there staring at us looking pale as he held something in his bloodied hand. Some sort of key fob.

It took Ricky a second before me to realise what happened and he let out an animalistic scream before flinging himself at Petey and slammed him against the wall and he dropped the fob.

“YOU BASTARD!” A punch. And another. Heavy ones that sent the brunette’s head jerking back against the hard wall.

“RICKY, STOP!” I yelled and grabbed his hand, but his other one shot out just as Petey ducked and he punched the wall by accident and we heard a crunching noise.

“YOU MONSTER!” Ricky yelled at Petey, and I forced myself to throw him to the ground and seize his wrists to hold behind his back, but pure rage ravaged his entire body and I struggled to hold him down. “LET ME AT HIM! HE MURDERED JOHNNY! HE COULD EASILY HAVE RUN OFF BUT HE PLAYED INNOCENT TO KEEP HIM SEPARATED FROM US! HE HAD ONE OF THE FOBS ON HIM THE WHOLE FUCKING TIME!”

“RICKY!” I roared, “CALM DOWN!” But my heart hammered as I glance at Johnny’s face, eyes shut and blood and cuts all over his head and face. “It can’t have been Petey! Johnny woulda fought him off easily!”

“He’d have caught him by surprise!” Ricky argued and suddenly pushed me off, standing between me and Petey as he pulls out something from his pocket - a pocketknife. “I’ll avenge you, Johnny!” Petey’s eyes shot wide.

Ricky lunges, only for the other guy to suddenly snatch up and throw the trashcan lid at his head like a frisbee, immediately knocking him out with a loud hollow thud and he fell to the ground with a groan.

In stunned silence, our eyes met.

“J-J-J-J-Jimmy, I…” he choked and I carefully walk over, stepping over Ricky’s unconscious ass, and held his hands. It calms girls down, but thank god it works on Petey too.

“I don’t believe him,” I whisper, “now calm down. What happened?”

“I-I-I…” his eyes glaze over as he tried to think, speaking as he went, “I was just sitting on the table and we were talking when something…” he touched his neck with a whimper. “Ouch… someone… someone stuck a needle in me. I think it was a tranquiliser because I fell over and I--” He gulped, trembling all over. “I-I heard a noise… like bones b-b-breaking…” I look at Johnny and at the rock, and then Petey’s hands which has blood on them.

To anyone walking in on this scene, they'd think it’s obvious how Johnny was killed.

“You’re not strong enough to lift a rock THAT big,” I reassure him, then we look down at the fob on the floor and I picked it up, pressing a button experimentally and sure enough the garage shutter to my left opened with sharp creaking snaps, leading to the front half of the autoshop. “Besides, the real killer could’ve dumped this on you and make it look like you had the means to separate yourself from the others. It’s risky, but it certainly paid off with Ricky.”

“Wh-what should we do with him?” Petey spluttered, gesturing at the unconscious greaser. “It’s obvious that as soon as he opens his mouth, people will start siding with him and have me killed!”

“They WON’T kill you, Petey!” I say sternly, although doubt says otherwise, “I’ll protect you. They’ll listen to me.”

“Oh, please!” he scoffs, “when Sheldon was found dead, they barely listened to you and Johnny was the only one who stood up for you!” He rubbed his sore cheek with a hiss and I handed him a clean tissue from the packet I kept in anticipation of any colds. He accepts it gratefully, wiping away at where a cut split his bruised skin. "Hey, Jimmy… quite a few important people got killed as well as few odd ones.”

“Whaddaya mean ‘important?’” I snap and he flinched.

“I mean SOCIAL-wise,” he corrected himself, “at first it seems random, but Russell lead the bullies and he got killed as well as Troy. Troy’s no genius but he still held respect. Tad had aspirations to lead the Preps once Bif graduates and Derby is the head of the Preps but he’s dead too… Maybe the killer thought that only Derby could drink certain wines and nobody else but accidentally took out the other guys?”

“Come off it,” I groan and rub my forehead, “it’s still random to me. All I know is that the killer already took three huge risks tonight killing someone in front of other people.”

“But it’s just now that he tranquilised me!” he argued.

I look at Ricky, still unconscious from the awesome hit Petey gave him he’s sure to wake up soon.

“Petey,” I murmur and hold his shoulder, “I promise I’ll protect you no matter what. But I gotta stay free enough to investigate all this shit that’s going on.”

“So now what?” he muttered, hugging himself, “I just go to my dorm room and hope that nobody comes in? Pray and write my Last Will & Testament?”

“No,” I say firmly, “I’ll take you to the one other place on campus that I camp out at regularly if I sneak back to school late.”

“Where’s that?” he uttered gloomily.

* * *

 

I had many crazy ideas in life but this has to be the craziest of them all.

The trek took us probably 10 minutes longer than normal, but we made it to the football field where the snow drifts built up to our chests. We had to plough through the snow in order to reach the sports clubhouse where I opened it and we fell inside, gasping and panting for our breaths. Petey’s bruised face still looked bright red from the combination of being pummelled as well as the deep snow giving him a welcome cooling relief from the burning pain.

I shut the door with my foot, not even bothering to stand up until he did so to flop onto the mattress - my makeshift bed for whenever I need a nap to get away from the prefects after curfew.

“Alright…” I pant, “you should be safe here. Meanwhile, I’ll run to the observatory and see if anyone’s hiding there.”

“Are you sure?” Petey groans, not sitting up, looking absolutely wrecked from the trek, “because it ain’t exactly safe being on your own either.”

“I’m Jimmy Hopkins - if trouble comes to find me, I’ll give it trouble,” I joke but he sighed.

“Can’t we both just stay here until morning comes? Do you even know what time it is?”

“I don’t,” I mumble, regretting not wearing one of my watches. “And we can’t just stay here. Ricky’s bound to tell everyone what had happened to Johnny and they’ll start a lynch mob quicker than Lola getting over Johnny… oh shit.” I groaned while Petey snorts. “That was wildly inappropriate.”

“She’ll definitely be the first to call for my blood.”

“I know,” I said, “but like I said, if I go out now and see who is in the observatory then we can possibly gather up a team who’ll be on our side in case shit does go down.”

“Aw, man,” Petey whined, sitting up, “and how many people are at the dorm right now? Almost everyone. If you DO find someone alive, that’d be a miracle.”

“Regardless, I’ll still look,” I shrug and dust myself off before handing two objects from my pockets to him, “here, take these.”

“What?” Petey eyed the pocketknife I nicked off Ricky as well as the small jute bag full of green marbles with tiny scratches and cracks on them. “Why’re you giving me these?”

“To protect yourself,” I say simply, “the marbles can be good alternative ammunition for your slingshot and the pocketknife doesn’t need any explanation.”

“I-I can’t take these!” Petey blurted, standing up quickly and trying to push them back into my arms, “you’re the one going out there, you’ll need them more than me!”

“Just shut it and keep them!” I snapped and he stepped back. “I mean it. I’m prioritising your safety for now, but you gotta trust me on this. I’ll be right back after checking out the observatory, okay?”

His mouth opened, but closed again as he sighed.

“I should already know by now that you’re stubborn as hell.”

“I learn from the best,” I lied and patted his shoulder, but he smirked anyway before I walked out the front door and into the Wintry Wonderland Hell.


	10. Always Watching...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So glad to be back, I'm still writing my original story but for now here's an update for the story!
> 
> This chapter is in ???'s POV

_ Foolish messy morons, I have eyes everywhere. I know you two are making camp at the sports clubhouse. Everybody else has to be pretty thick to not know all your hideouts by now, but I know them off by heart because I see you frequent them so much like you own the place. _

_ Jimmy boy, while you discover the surprise in the observatory, I’ll go off and initiate my plan with my new best friend. _

_ The dawn is not for another few hours, but when it rises, the world will see this school bathed in blood, and I will finally be the one to stand on top. _


	11. Constellation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chapter is in Jimmy's POV.

I did NOT want to leave Petey alone but I don’t want to take any more risks tonight.

Wary, I made my way across the long football field, glancing at the steps to my left hoping that Ricky doesn’t come after me with the crowbar I forgot to pick up, and I must’ve gotten so cold that I started to feel warm. But from experience, that’s usually a bad sign. As well as this crazed killer going around, there’s also hypothermia to look out for.

For some reason, these huge snow drifts reminded me of an ex-stepfather I once had. Mom met him at a yoga club, fell in love (bleh) and they dated without telling him about my existence because most of the guys mom dated would rather live childfree lives (I don’t blame them. Kids are irritating as fuck. I would know, I’m pretty irritating myself.) But luckily for her, he’s always wanted a son and lo and behold, I was ideal. Derek was the only stepfather I actually liked enough to tolerate and taught me a lot about the marines since he said he did a brief stint in the Middle East before a leg injury caused him to retire with juicy benefits (the winning attraction point my mom saw.) He taught me how to swim, how to box and tie all sorts of knots. He’d still be a great stepfather if his best knot wasn’t the one wrapped around his neck.

“And to think that you had a hidden gambling habit and lied about your life story…” I muttered, my pace speeding up.

_ ‘Only because I wanted a real life,’  _ I imagined him saying, effortlessly cutting through the snow, _ ‘but to live and eat, you gotta have money, and if you live your life in a way that impresses people, then you’ll feel that it’s worth living for. Having all four will make you feel at peace.’ _

“So fuck off and stop haunting me, Derek,” I snarl, cursing when the torchlight started to fade a little. “You left mom and me.”

_ ‘I did love you both,’ _ I thought of him replying with that, and even though it’s purely my imagination it stung.  _ ‘Let’s face it - and don’t tell your mom I said this - she isn’t exactly a supermodel with the makeup that she might as well have stolen from Edna’s bathroom.’  _ I tried not to snort. It’s so damn true.

“Maybe they were long-lost sisters?” I suggested and Derek chortled, voice deep and gruff from years of smoking bootleg cigarettes before slowing down as I approach the gates leading up to the observatory.

Resting my gloved hands on the metal, I lifted the latch and set off a series of bars that in turn pushed others, allowing me to push the gates apart. The front door ahead of me was shut, but I took a deep breath. Derek’s silent footsteps paused beside me and I look up, seeing his gaze resting on the imposing building. My memory of him faded because I was only 7 when he committed suicide, but he was definitely a bulky guy who can fight for himself in a barfight.

_ ‘Remember when that burglar broke in and you raised hell by yelling and hitting him in the face with the baseball bat I gave you?’ _

The one mom sold after he died to get enough money for taxi fare, yes.

_ ‘You’re a brave kid, Jimmy,’ _ Derek said lowly, tone eroded to softness by the blizzard,  _ ‘you always were and even now. You never showed vulnerability at all. But even though you need to let your guard down every once in a while to mentally recharge, you have to keep up this fight.’ _

“For how long?” I ask as snow built up against my legs.

_ ‘Until you save your friend,’ _ Derek says simply, and his grey eyes finally met mine. For a blinding moment he sounded so real I could’ve convinced myself that he’s still alive. He put his hand on my head and I shut my eyes, just trying so hard to remember those only times when a genuine father figure touched me like that without things ending in violence. _ ‘Friends are hard to come by and I mean REAL ones. They’re worth fighting for, Jimmy. Petey’s a decent guy.’ _

“He is.”

_ ‘So keep fighting for him, Jimmy. Hold onto each other and keep fighting together until the sun rises… I love you, my son.’ _

I had to will him away out of my mind otherwise I’ll cry. There’s plenty of time to do that later.

I kick the snow off myself, shaking my memories back to the depths of my mind, and ran up to the observatory doors.

They’re unlocked.

I inhaled, holding onto the handles before pushing them inward and watch them fling open, revealing a huge puddle of blood in the middle of the large room.

Oooo shit, where did THAT come from?

Dripping. With dread, I look up… and instead of paper mache planets, limbs and organs hung from strings with blood gradually draining from them.

“Shit,” I growl and my gaze turned to the centre where Melvin’s head hung upside-down, eyes staring out and his glasses broken.

So Melvin’s dead too now…

“Hopkins!”

I spun quickly, seeing Ricky seething and glaring at me while holding a crowbar. Shit.

“Think you could outrun me, huh?” he snarls, taking a step closer when he looks behind me and at the ceiling, mouth dropping.

“Ricky--” I spoke, but he snapped out of his shock, shaking all over.

“Forget it, Hopkins!” he yelled, “I won’t let you get outta here alive! I know the truth and now I know what I gotta do!” 

“I didn’t kill Melvin!” I burst.

“Who fucking cares?” he spits, “protecting scum like Petey makes you a murderer too! THIS IS FOR JOHNNY!”

And he charged toward me, holding the bar high, crooked end first.

I duck, sprinted, tackle-charging him in the stomach and he wheezed as he bounced back and the crowbar clattered against the floor. I’ve always been a fast runner.

But greasers like Ricky are tough, and one headbutt to the abdomen is going to hardly leave a dent.

He quickly recovered, scrabbling to regain balance but I already dove for the crowbar and we’re both fighting over it. He really means to kill me. I can’t let him do that - Petey will be on his own. I have to protect him.

“I MEAN IT!” I shout, trying to yank the bar away but his absolute fury welded his hands to the metal. “I DIDN’T KILL ANYONE!”

But he didn’t listen - he quickly kicked me in the gut and I wheezed, letting go - fatal mistake - and he raised the bar high in the air, above his head-

“NO!”

Someone cried out and wrapped their arms around Ricky’s waist, surprising him into stopping.

_ Petey! _

“Stop! Please!” he begged, not letting of him, “he didn’t k-kill anyone! He wouldn’t! I know it!”

“Let go!” Ricky yelled, trying to push him, but he clung on like a limpet.

I quickly lurch, but he swung his arm and I blocked the crowbar with my arm before my other fist flew out in a jab, right at his face making him stumble back as Petey hurried away, holding onto his face. Blood seeped down his cheek.

I stare as he removed his hand from his stunned expression, showing a cut stretching over his eye and forehead, and my heart stopped. Even Ricky stopped, mouth agape in horror.

My blood boiled and I stormed over, seizing his shirt collar and slammed him down to the floor, pummelling his face with my fist. He let out a strangled cry, but I didn’t stop until he stopped moving, and a pair of weak hands pathetically gripped mine, stopping me.

“Stop…” Petey hissed, fingers tense and I let go of Ricky’s collar, relaxing my whole body and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was restraining.

“Petey…” I whisper, standing up, “your eye…”

His lips quivered but he gulped instead, closing his good eye with his hand while waving the other in front of his bad eye, but his pupil followed his hand a bit jerkily.

“I-I can still see, b-but… it’s blurry.”

I just slumped over him, hugging him.

“I’m sorry,” I muttered, “Ricky just turned nuts and I should’ve stopped him!”

He said nothing, but carefully pushed me away. The blood running down his pale, bruised face began to distract me. I can’t just leave him at the dorm. Not when we still have Trent running around and Ricky still being alive and convinced that Petey murdered Johnny.

His eyes finally glanced up to the ceiling with Melvin’s guts and body parts decorating the solar system and he gagged, stepping back with hands flying to his mouth.

“So Melvin is gone now too,” I bluntly state and he nodded.

“But he was with Thad earlier,” he gulps, glancing around. “Where could he be?”

I can’t believe I forgot about him. But more importantly, that’ll only make me suspect HIM as the murderer if it wasn’t for the fact that he’s a scrawny kid.

“Let’s go back to the sports hut,” I grumble, holding his shoulder, and he muttered in agreement as we left the room, only for him to quickly go up to Ricky’s unconscious body and pick up the crowbar. “Good thinking, Petey. Wouldn’t want him to use that on us again.”

He gave me a weak smile, only it was painfully lopsided because of the nasty cut that seemed to have dug into his cheek. Oh boy, I better do something…

“Petey,” I inhale, stepping close and wrapping my arm around his shoulders. He shrunk automatically with a complaint, but also rested my hand on top of his head. “You gotta stay warm, you’re losing blood. I think there’s a first-aid kit in the sports hut.”

He began to complain again, but I tuned it out as I lead us through the blizzard. I could swear that Derek is walking behind us, watching over me, but I know that he isn’t. His body will still be swinging in the forest where he used to take me to camp at. Where I went to look for him. And found his body. And never told anyone because when I got back home after that mom already had everything in her car to take us away, already aware of his massive gambling debt and ties to the loan sharks.

Derek was someone who lied about his entire life without batting an eye, yet he was the best stepfather I ever had. But I abandoned him. I should’ve told mom to tell the police so that he’d at least have a funeral, but instead I refused to sleep unless my body forced me to, and no amount of listening to death metal music will keep my eyes from shutting and flitting my guilt behind them.


End file.
